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iviarellereads · 2 years

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Harrow the Ninth, Chapter 2

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Ninth House icon) In which Harrow starts to get some time upright and on her feet.

God tells Harrow she needs to take better care of herself and spend less time throwing up, she's losing her already meager muscle tone. Harrow appreciates God's visits, because he always knocks and waits for a reply, proving his divinity. She asks what use she has for a sword, and he says he's not going to debate philosophy with her before she's rinsed her mouth out.

While she's in the bathroom, she overhears God and his entourage talking. One mentions that the "Saint of Joy" issued an order, which God says should normally be followed in his absence, but not when he's specifically there and countermanding it. He suggests making static noises if she keeps trying to give the same orders.

In the mirror Harrow sees the Body, wearing a hospital gown just like her own, with a sword strapped to her back.(1) For a brief moment, Harrow thinks God can see her, too, but it's a trick of the eye.

God asks Harrow to come with him. His entourage try to get him to attend a meeting, but he declines, as he needs time with Harrow, and tells them to meet him in ten minutes. Harrow is afraid someone will steal the sword if she leaves it, but she can't lift it herself. She contrives to lay next to it and roll over onto it, so she can strap it to her back that way.

The narrator, by way of speaking to Harrow, tells her she looked ridiculous, wearing a bedsheet robe over a sword, a hospital gown, and flaking blood for face paint.(2)

Harrow asks on the walk if this happens to all new Lyctors. God replies vaguely, "Some of them," which doesn't offer much in the way of relief. She says she's tired of her convalescence. God says he'd rather it could take months, not weeks, but they haven't the luxury of that kind of time. He wishes he'd mastered time, not death. Still, he might have something to help Harrow's progress along.

God brings Harrow to a room like a warehouse, full of boxes. He's kept a number of people in stasis for his myriad of years, and now he will wake them to restore the Ninth House, as promised. Five hundred or so, a third necromantic.

"Oh my God," you said, forgetting that the deity in question was right there.

Harrow asks if he's committed another Resurrection. He says no, but he set some aside, and has felt a little bad about "just keeping them as insurance."(3) Harrow asks to go with them, long enough to introduce them to her seneschal, but God says they need to have a conversation before she asks him that.

They walk through the cargo hold, and Harrow comes upon some corpses she's felt from a distance: the bodies of those that could be retrieved from Canaan House. God says he intends to get answers about those he couldn't account for, but for now, they're declared dead.

"Call me premature, but I'd rather the Houses weep now, Harrowhark, with room for later rejoicing."

Harrow stares at one coffin, with a rose on it,(4) until her nervous system shuts down from trying to process her emotions. The Body appears again and turns her face away. God says she has to go home, but when Harrow assumes that means the Seventh House, he says no, home is with her sibling Lyctors. Harrow wants to feel relieved, but isn't quite capable of it on a glandular level.

Harrow asks why he won't resurrect the fallen of Canaan House. He tells her the cost is too great. Harrow falls to her knees, not quite fully aware of the action, and asks him to teach her how to count that cost. God, or perhaps now better the Emperor, helps her stand, and asks her not to kneel to him or worship him until she understands the full story.

The Kindly Prince tells Harrow that the Erebos will be departing soon with the passengers for the Ninth and the corpses of the other Houses. He offers her the choice, again, to join him or go back. Harrow says she already chose, but he says that was done in ignorance, it doesn't count.

He asks Harrow what happens when someone dies. Harrow goes into the mechanics of death and necromancy. The Emperor asks her to think past the mechanics of a human death: what is the role of a Cohort necromancer? Harrow hasn't really a clue at first, until she logics it through: kill the planet, enable necromancy. Only, she doesn't quite think planets can have souls.

He asks her to bear with it as a hypothesis: if a planet could have a soul, what would happen during the same death process? Harrow points out that the Cohort does the process very slowly, it takes generations before the population needs to be moved to complete it, but nothing really happens. Then, the Emperor asks what might happen if that transition were completed all at once. Harrow asks that he tell her, since he was present for the Resurrection.

The Emperor tells her that it's the difference between dying of illness and murder. The shock was immense, and created revenants. Every planet. They call them the Resurrection Beasts. At first, they ran off into the universe to hide from their deaths, as many revenants do. And all the Lyctors who have died, died to the RBs.

Harrow asks how many there are. The Body raises its(5) eyebrows when he tells her, three remain, of the nine that were. They took out Number Two(6) early, Eight cost a man's soul,(7) Six died because one of the Lyctors, Cyrus, "drew it into an ultramassive black hole,"(8) and Six had better be dead because Cyrus isn't coming back.

Before Harrow can respond or even question his math, which does not add up in the slightest,(9) The Emperor pushes away from Cytherea's coffin to face Harrow in front of the Third's, and he tells her the choice he offered was a false one. The RBs can feel and follow him, no matter where he goes, and to a lesser degree they can also sense and follow those who have committed the "indelible sin" of Lyctorhood. No Lyctor has ever chosen to go home, once they knew of this problem. None, but one, who knew he would come because she went home.

Harrow asks if he intends to teach her how to fight the RBs. Not before he teaches her to run from them, which is the even harder lesson, one he's been learning for ten thousand years. The Emperor lays his hands on Harrow's shoulders, and she looks up into his ordinary face.

"What he is saying," said the Body distinctly, "is that you have to learn that sword."(10) You looked at her, over his shoulder. The Emperor instinctively followed your gaze, but he could never have seen what you saw:(11) the weals where the chains had passed around the other girl's wrists, neck, ankles. He would not perceive that long hair hanging wetly over her shoulders, that resinous colour that in death might have been anything. He could not have heard the voice--low, husky, musical--or its dry and uncanny echo of other voices you had known: your mother's, Crux's.

He wouldn't know other things. That the Body hasn't spoken to Harrow since the night of her parents' deaths. That she had only walked with the Body for a year, and then only seen her in dreams. That in Harrow's youth, the Body's eyes were black, but since she'd become a Lyctor, the eyes had become a yellow that makes Harrow dizzy to see.(12)

Harrow converses a little more with the Body, telling it that she has failed, she is only half a Lyctor, and useless. The Emperor, confused about who Harrow is talking to, puts his hands on Harrow's shoulders. She looks at him, and he says "Ortus Nigenad did not die for nothing." But something about his face looks wrong as he does, and Harrow feels a hot line of pain in her head. She says Ortus Nigenad died thinking it was the only gift he was capable of giving, and she's wasted it. The Emperor needs a minute to process this,(13) looking like someone working out a very strange anagram, and says "Ortus" again. Harrow experiences another stab of pain and falls to the floor, senseless and out of control of her body.

"Ortus Nigenad," said the Emperor again, almost wondering; but then you knew nothing more, except that you hadn't thrown up on God, which had to count as consolation.

=====

(1) Now why would the Body suddenly have a sword, in the presence of God? (2) None of the text implies that Harrow is aware of looking this way, or that she cares, but the second-person here really implies that someone's saying it for a reason. (3) Insurance against what? (4) Ah, Cytherea's. (5) What a curious pronoun change. (6) I wonder, do the House numbers correlate to the order of the Beasts? (7) Well that's fuckin grim. (8) Confession: every time black holes come up in fiction I think about the Nightmare/Atmosfear VHS board games, because one of the "host" characters says "BLAGOL!" a lot and it's really funny. The Loading Ready Run crew has played all of them, and the vods are available on their streams channel, if anyone's curious. A+ entertainment. (9) Yeah, if there were nine of them, and they've eliminated five, but he only lists three dead… Something's fishy here. (10) The Body is the woman who was in the Tomb, who has been described in the legend of the Nine Houses as the Emperor's greatest enemy. Why is she helping Harrow? (11) So, if he's a necromancer, presumably he's attuned to the dead and their haunting presences, right? So, does this mean the narrator is implying that the Body is only a hallucination, or is there something funkier going on? (12) Now why would the eyes change colour, at the point where Harrow achieved Lyctorhood, and further… why would those eyes make her feel dizzy? (13) I could play coy and say that it's odd for him to need a second to process someone saying the same name back to him perfectly normally… but this was where I started to suspect something was really Going On on my first read. Can you see why? Can you see my guess? Do you think I was right?

#the locked tomb #tlt #harrow the ninth #htn #harrow the ninth spoilers #htn spoilers #harrowhark nonagesimus #emperor john gaius #The Body (htn)

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rumbelleshowdown · 2 years

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Author: Aurifer

Group: Final

Prompts: Forbidden. Shared custody. Light in her eyes.

wheel of the seasons

Equinox

"The sun has almost set."

"Maybe they were delayed."

"Maybe they won't make it at all!"

Belle wasn't sure where the words, spoken in a hopeful whisper, had come from, but she still shot a glare in the general direction of the speakers. Nobody noticed, of course, and maybe that was for the best. Belle had her reasons for hoping the Ereboi would not miss the Passing of the Seasons, but her fellow courtiers hardly shared them and would have asked awkward questions if they had noticed her state of mind.

He's going to come, she told herself firmly. He always does.

The sun dipped below the horizon and even Belle's stalwart optimism was beginning to fade, when she noticed the hush falling over the crowd.

She knew who they had sent, even before the whispers started, and she had to force herself to keep still, not to push her way to the front of the crowd. They couldn't afford carelessness.

Instead, she listened and tried, as casually as possible, to catch a glimpse of him across the room. The whispers had reached her now. They'd sent the Dark One, people muttered. The Beast of Erebos. The worst monster at a court filled with monsters.

Belle had grown up on all those same stories, but she had reason to suspect that Erebos was little better or worse than their own kingdom. Centuries of bitter wars and brittle ceasefires that could never quite be called peace didn't make for a flattering picture of the enemy. She wondered what the children in Erebos were taught about their counterparts in Hemera, then tore her thoughts away from the topic.

The bitter mutterings of her fellow courtiers fell away the moment Belle caught a glimpse of the emissary, who had dropped into a shallow bow before the royal thrones. Somehow, he managed to make even this gesture of respect look sarcastic.

"Your Majesties," he said, voice pitched high, as if perpetually on the verge of a mocking laugh.

"Dark One," Queen Snow replied. She did her best to appear civil, though with little success. Even from her position, Belle could hear the Queen's disapproving sneer.

Rumplestiltskin rose from his bow without waiting for the sign to do so. "The Court of Erebos sends its greetings," he said, "and thanks you for your stewardship of the Season's Crown."

More mutterings. Technically, both courts had equal claims to the crown and its immense reserves of magic. The current arrangement of switching stewardship on the equinox was one of the shaky pillars their current state of peace was built upon, but it was seen as bad form to point it out so blatantly.

Just as Belle was about to retreat from the audience chamber—this trading of barbs could go on for quite some time—when Rumplestiltskin's gaze darted to the side and instantly found hers. For the briefest moment, something like warmth flickered across those cold golden eyes, but it was gone as soon as he turned back to his task.

After that, Belle stayed to watch the entire handover ceremony. Despite the barbs and the general air of discomfort, she couldn't deny that, if nothing else, the emissary was quite lovely to look at; especially from this angle. When the audience was concluded and the Queen and King proclaimed the beginning of the autumn celebrations, Belle slipped away from the bustling crowd.

~ * ~

It had taken her some time, but in the end, Belle had found a part of the castle that wasn't either buzzing with serving staff, busily supplying the feast, or idling nobles that had stolen away from the main halls for more private... conversations.

Not that she was one to judge.

The corridor was dark and at this time of the year, too chilly to be comfortable. She rubbed at her arms, wishing she'd worn a dress with longer sleeves, when a low voice sounded in her ear.

"I was beginning to worry you wouldn't come."

Her heart gave a lurch of excitement and Belle spun, throwing her arms around the man behind her, barely more than an outline in the darkness. Their lips met, clumsy at first, before he melted against her. After months of separation, kissing Rumple felt like coming home.

After far too short a moment, Belle forced herself to pull back. Her eyes hadn't quite adjusted to the dark, yet, but she could still see the outline of Rumple's face; the way the moonlight glinted off his scales.

"Someone could see," she whispered.

"What, all the way out here? Sweetheart, I doubt even the mice know this part of the castle even exists."

Belle gave a little laugh and hoped he couldn't hear the trembling in it. "I missed you," she managed to say.

"And I you." His lips were warm against her forehead and she leaned against him, enjoying his warmth.

"How is he?" Belle finally asked.

"Fast asleep in your quarters."

Immediately, the knot in Belle's chest loosened. Not seeing Rumple between the changing of the seasons was bad enough. Not seeing Gideon for half of each year…

"We can go see him if you like," Rumple suggested gently.

Belle bit her lower lip, then shook her head. "Later," she decided. "I-" She sighed. "Is it selfish if I want you for myself? Just for now?"

"If it is, I'll gladly be called a selfish man." Rumple leaned in, trailing his lips across the shell of her ear. "I've missed you every day." His mouth wandered lower. "And dreamed of you every night."

"Not here," Belle whispered urgently, but she made no attempt at pushing him away.

"Nobody will see," Rumple assured her, brushing hands down her back.

Part of her almost wanted to get discovered. At least then the hiding would be over.Of course, that would come with its own problems. They had talked about this. Had even talked about running away and leaving the Courts and their squabbling behind.

And being on the run wouldn't give their son a normal life, either.

Belle pushed aside those thoughts, focusing on Rumple entirely. And when she let him push her against the wall, his mouth on her neck, her hands in his hair, she managed to let the world fall away entirely, even if it was only for a short time.

Their arrangement wasn't perfect. But it worked for them.

It was enough.

~ * ~

Solstice

Snow fell softly and Rumplestiltskin glared at the flakes with an intensity that should have melted them before reaching the ground. It had been quite some time—centuries, really—since anyone had made him wait out in the cold, but that was not the reason he was out of sorts.

In all the years of their secret affair, Belle had never once contacted him and she knew that calling him away from court at the solstice meant that he would definitely be missed. The summons were supposed to be for an emergency, for a situation where her or Gideon's life were at risk. The fact that she had yet to show up was beginning to drive Rumplestiltskin half mad with worry.

Then he heard it. Footsteps in the snow. The sound was dampened by the thick layer covering the ground, but he would recognise the rhythm of her step anywhere. He turned, bracing himself for bad news, and paused when he saw her approach through the forest.

Belle was carrying something in her arms. No, Rumplestiltskin thought dazedly, not something, someone. She carried a bundle wrapped in a woolen cloak, and from the size and the infinite care she took, it could only be Gideon.

Panic rose in Rumplestiltskin's chest, but he squashed it down. This went against every precaution they had agreed on but she had to have a reason for bringing him.

"Belle," he called, remembering that she could not see as well in the dark as he did.

Her head snapped up, eyes darting around. When she spotted him a weak smile appeared on her face and she made her way over to the little clearing she'd given as their meeting place.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't know what else to do."

"It's all right," he assured her, although he had no idea if he was even telling the truth. "Let me hold him."

She handed the sleeping child over, and Rumplestiltskin immediately spun a thin weave of magic over the boy to keep him warm and asleep. He had the feeling that this would not be an easy conversation.

"What happened?" he asked, looking up from Gideon's sleeping face with some effort. The months away from his son always wore on him.

"It's Gideon," Belle said quietly.

Rumplestiltskin's heart sank and something of his panic must have shown on his face, because Belle immediately raised her hands to placate him.

"No, nothing like that," she said quickly. "He's fine. He's… wonderful, in fact." She pressed her lips together, and in the moonlight, her eyes looked very large and so very, very blue. "Yesterday, he showed magic for the first time."

Rumplestiltskin blinked, caught halfway between relief and confusion. Yes, Gideon was quite young to be showing the signs of a magical talent but not too young.

And then he realised.

"It's dark magic," Rumplestiltskin whispered, his heart sinking again. Of course it was. With Gideon's happy disposition and kind temperament, he'd allowed himself to hope—to delude himself—that maybe he hadn't passed his curse on to his child.

A fool's hope.

A slender hand on his face, cold from the night air but still warm against his skin, tore him from his spiralling thoughts. "It's not dark magic," she said gently. "It's all light. The brightest you have ever seen."

Relief flooded him, enough to make his knees buckle. "Then what-"

"He can't control it," Belle said, letting her hand drop. "It won't harm anyone, but he'll never be able to hide it."

And now, finally, Rumplestiltskin understood. She hadn't called him because she was in trouble. She had called him so he could see his son one last time.

"He can't stay with me," he said, looking down at the sleeping boy in his arms. Suddenly, he didn't want Gideon to be asleep anymore. Didn't want him to miss what might be their last moments together for years. If not longer.

"We could hide him," Rumplestiltskin suggested. "Nobody needs to know about this, we could-"

"Keep him away from all other children until he is old enough to control his magic?" Belle asked. Her tone was still gentle, but firm.

Rumplestiltskin sagged. No matter how much he wanted to, he wasn't that selfish of a man. "No, of course not," he said. "You're right."

"I know I am." Belle laid her hand over his on Gideon's shoulder. "That's why we're going to leave."

It took Rumplestiltskin a moment to understand what she had said. "We can't," he said immediately. They had talked about this. They had obligations. Belle might only be a minor noble at court, but she had the Queen's ear, and her absence would be noted. If it came out that she had run away with the Beast of Erebos, it might even be the cause of a new war. And as for Rumplestiltskin... nobody liked the Dark One, but he was the kingdom's most powerful magic user. He could hardly just up and disappear.

Belle knew this. They both knew this. And yet, when he looked at her, the light in her eyes showed a core of steel underneath. She had made her decision; he just had to catch up.

"We can," she said simply. "And we will. I'm not letting Gideon grow up without his father." She swallowed, an old pain flickering across her face. "He deserves a chance at a normal life, Rumple. We deserve a chance."

"They'll come after us."

"They'll try." Her hands slid up his arm. "Please, Rumple. I don't want to lose you."

And what could he say to that?

"All right." He tried for a smile and almost succeeded. "I never much liked the court, anyway."

A smile lit up Belle's face, and Rumplestiltskin wondered why it had taken him so long to decide. He leaned in, careful of the sleeping child in his arms and brushed a kiss against her lips. She tasted of spring.

"Thank you," she whispered, lips brushing against his.

"I love you," he replied.

#rumbelle showdown #final round #author: aurifer #rumbelle fic

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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How Venom Prison became death metal's most vital young band

Venom Prison talk abuse in the music industry, pushing the boundaries of metal and how they aren't about to back down

Larissa Stupar is doing all right. She’s about to release another shit-hot record with Venom Prison, has just got married to the love of her life, and is expecting a baby boy in March. It’s all a bit wholesome.

“When I announced my pregnancy on Instagram, someone commented, ‘Uterine Industrialisation’, which is one of our song titles,” the vocalist says. Ah.

“I just replied, ‘Thanks for comparing me to a birthing machine. Very kind of you.’ The person deleted it and commented again, just saying, ‘Congratulations.’”

People get pregnant all the time. Half the human population is female, and as the Bloodhound Gang so profoundly spake, we ain’t nothin’ but mammals. But matey boy from Cannibal Corpse isn’t carrying a foetus around for nine months. Danzig doesn’t breastfeed, as far as we know. When male bandmembers become parents, they’ll probably miss a show or two. Then they’re back on the road.

“I don’t think this should be treated any differently because I’m a woman,” Larissa adds. “We just don’t see this very often within metal bands because there aren’t that many women. We’re going to have to take some time off, but we still want to make Download festival possible. It means something to us as a band, me as part of the band, and me as a mother. Venom Prison is part of who I am, and I’m not ready to give it up.”

She speaks with that nervous positivity you only really get from parents-to-be, which is refreshingly at odds with her band’s brutal outlook. Formed in 2015, Venom Prison blossomed from Larissa’s involvement in the anti-fascist hardcore scene.

A Welsh band, with a Russian-born vocalist who had spent her teenage years protesting against actual Nazis in Germany? Yeah, they ruffled some feathers and were nails as fuck.

Debut album Animus kicked up a stink in 2016. Its fetid blend of death metal and hardcore was a welcome waft, as was its explicit artwork, which upset conservative death metallers by depicting women castrating a man and feeding him the gloop.

Samsara arrived three years later, packing chonkier riffs, upscaled production and better songs. Across just a few years, they opened for Trivium on a massive European tour, brought all the pyro to Bloodstock’s main stage and signed to one of metal’s most prominent labels, Century Media.

Excluding Primeval – a collection of re-recorded demos and two new songs, released in late 2020 – album number three, Eerebos, is their first ‘proper’ record on Century Media. It doesn’t skimp on the grimness.

“In Greek mythology, Erebos was the very first primordial God that created darkness from nothing,” says Larissa. “From chaos. It fit the themes and how we experienced the last two years – this darkness born from chaos.”

But Venom Prison is as Venom Prison does, and highfalutin concepts about gods and epic shit are ten a penny; that’s what normal metal bands do. When Erebos was announced, the group cited a real-life ‘repetition of the cycle of violence’ that spreads beyond that mythical mayhem.

“There’s so much going on in the world in regards to politics,” Larissa elaborates. “Black Lives Matter, refugees in the UK – they died crossing in that freezer [in 2019, when 39 people died travelling in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Essex]. In America, people are being incarcerated just because they aren’t wanted there. They’re separated from their children. Families are broken up. There was a whistleblower who revealed that women were experiencing medical procedures they never agreed to – their wombs were being taken out.”

This topic of discrimination is something they touch on directly in the record’s lead single, Judges Of The Underworld: ‘Guilty as charged, a childhood of abandonment and desolation/Adolescence filled with guns, institutionalisation/Who is to blame?’

“In America, for example, people are born into poverty, violence, and neglect, and they’re stuck there,” Larissa says. “They’re cheated by the system. They experience it as the victim, the offender and the witness at the same time. Then as soon as they go into the prison system, they’re completely fucked. Because even after you leave, you’re placed back into the same environment you came from, and you have no chance to get out of the cycle.”

This is all worthy discussion material. Thankfully, Erebos rams the message down your throat by being the most diverse, grand and catchy thing Venom Prison have slapped their name on. Sure, it’s still death metal. But it’s immediately melodic, nodding to seminal albums such as At The Gates’ Slaughter Of The Soul and Carcass’s Heartwork.

Orchestral flourishes flit through tracks, composed by the band’s guitarist, Ben Thomas. Solos reign supreme. There are proper singalong choruses.

“With Animus and Samsara, we just wanted to establish our sound because we were a new band,” Larissa explains. “This time around, it wasn’t about doing ‘just another death metal record’. I’m personally not interested in listening to someone who writes the same 10 songs every two years.”

She goes on, quickly citing Bring Me The Horizon. “They’ve evolved from a tiny deathcore band to playing some of the biggest venues in the UK. They keep changing their sound, and they just don’t give a fuck.”

It’s apt that she brings them up, as Venom Prison’s latest work shares one clear trait with Oli Sykes’ Steel City ruffians: the introduction of clean vocals. Larissa had experimented with some strangled, semi-clean lines on 2020’s Slayer Of Holofernes, but they were more in keeping with someone like Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan. They were ‘sung’ vocals in the same way stubbing your toe ‘kinda hurts’.

Clean passages can be found in pockets of Erebos, but most prominently on the eerie, quasi-ballad Pain Of Oizys. Aside from singing in choirs as a kid, this was the first time Larissa had approached vocals from this angle.

“You can’t go in and just sing, even if you’re meeting the notes,” she explains. “You need to have the soul and emotion that connects you to the lyrics. I really struggled with that to start with – I was stuck recording for three hours, and just ended up crying and stopping for the day."

“I’d love to use more clean vocals in the future,” she admits. “I don’t think we’ll make clean-only songs, but I’m planning on learning how to sing properly. I want to connect with my own voice more; I’m confident with screaming, and I want the same feeling when it comes to clean vocals.”

In terms of what’s next, Venom Prison are primed to cleave metal fans’ ears. Erebos is still uncompromising and heavy, but offers so much more. Trivium took a punt on the band in 2018, and Venom Prison were set to open for Parkway Drive at Wembley Arena in 2020 – they’ve since had to drop out of the rescheduled dates.

Popular bands cottoned onto Venom Prison’s potential, and now it’s time for everyone else to play catch-up. “It shows that there is a place for an extreme band in the more mainstream part of metal,” Larissa confirms.

Bigger songs, bigger tours, and a bigger platform mean that Venom Prison’s socially conscious, politically sharp values can reach more people. UK death metal legends such as Carcass, Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death have touched similar nerves throughout their careers, but now the world’s caught up, as issues such as racial and sexual violence are more widely scrutinised by the public.

The latter topic is something Venom Prison have attacked and dissected with a laser-sharp lyrical focus. Despite the ripples caused by #MeToo, the Marilyn Manson allegations and more, Larissa still believes there’s work to be done. “It might accelerate the process, but we still have a long way to go,” she sighs, referencing the Manson case.

At the time of writing, sexual assault charges have been raised against the shock rocker, and the police have searched his home. “I like Kanye West as an artist, so it was disappointing to see him collaborate with Marilyn Manson [on West’s new album, Donda],” Larissa continues.

“I understand where he’s coming from as a Christian. He believes that people deserve forgiveness, and they can find God and, I don’t know, transcend into being a better person or whatever. I wish that Kanye would take the same compassion he has for Marilyn Manson and apply it to the people who accused Manson of doing these awful things.

“Fans often side with artists instead of trying to see the perspective of the people who accused them,” she finishes. “They just don’t care. It’s naive and blind. There are still people out there listening to Lostprophets; they have millions of plays on Spotify. Some people are just completely fucked.”

It’s a sombre note to end on, but it’s this kind of real-world horror that Venom Prison draw from. It’s what they fight for. Fuck the patriarchy, fuck racists, fuck abusers and fuck anyone who thinks they’re above others.

This attitude brought so much acclaim and outcry when Animus arrived. Hiatus or no, baby in tow, Erebos confirms their relevance. It’s the kind of record that deserves to be heard on the main stage at Download, not the fourth. It’s what will make them the UK’s essential extreme band.

#larissa stupar #venom prison #2022 interviews

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that-stone-butch · 3 years

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Omg you play MTG ?? I just started playing last year. Do you have a favorite commander? (If you play commander, or MTG at all, I'm just assuming based off your reply to that raggedy ass ask)

i haven't had a chance to play mtg in quite a while but here's my basic commander lineup:

1. Radha Elfball (grand warlord; the curve-out is w i l d)

2. Kess Spellslinger

3. Erebos/Drana Goodstuff (commander depends on table)

4. Mayael the Anima (one of my first decks that i will never disassemble)

5. Rashmi Control/Value

for the most part i prefer casual over competitive decks

#ask #anonymous #mtg

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celticgaels · 2 years

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Hello! Welcome to the Blog!

Requests: Closed for commissions and open for writing

Introduction:

Hi! My name is Taff. I occupy exactly zero braincells most of the time but feel free to message me or send me an ask! I'm a budding (insecure) artist that honestly needs a lot of practise but I think I feel ready to show some of my work. I write as well and have been writing more than I have been drawing, especially digitally, but I love learning new techniques to make my crafts better. This blog is centred mostly around OCs of mine for LEGO Ninjago and as such is recommended for those 18 and over considering the nature of my OCs and the world that comes with them.

This blog is a side blog, so likes, follows and replies in the notes will come from my main, @friedchocolate

Besides LEGO Ninjago, my other interests/fandoms are:

Marvel

Baldur's Gate

Fallout

The Elder Scrolls

The Witcher

Red Dead Redemption

The Last of Us

Uncharted

The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings

A Plague Tale

Rules:

Not much really phases me but there's still some lines I won't cross

I'm okay with writing/making art of nsfw topics seeing as my characters and the Aldmerrow Chapter do contain nsfw themes, but for now, I'll take writing requests because I personally feel that my art is not up to standard for frequent art posts just yet.

Do NOT repost or edit my art. This includes using it in a video edit and posting it onto sites like Pinterest or Deviantart. If I make a piece for you to use, do what you will, but I will not take off my watermark.

I'd prefer to keep my OC content to myself so please don't claim such things as your own. It took me years to develop everything and it's very precious to me

I will not answer asks regarding ships about Lloyd that I feel are inappropriate, such as ships with him and other ninja/older characters

I also have tokophobia (fear of and general aversion to pregnancy) and am not entirely fond of children so I would appreciate such topics to not be brought up.

Where writing requests are concerned, the above is relevant. Regarding nsfw themes like those of a sexual nature, there are things I can and cannot do for personal reasons. If you want to request such a thing from me, please see my writing rules page before sending an ask.

Note: If I'm tagged in something or mentioned in the notes/comments and I don’t respond for a little while, like a day or so, it's because I likely didn't get notified and tumblr likes to not let me see notifications so feel free to message me the post just in case re-tagging doesn't work. Usually it should, though.

Tags:

My usual tags consist of:

#anon – in this tag you can find posts with asks from anons

#mutual – in this tag you can find posts with asks from mutuals

#tw [blank] – in this tag you can find posts which may have triggering content or content not for minors

#ninjago / #ninjago oc – in this tag you can find posts that include talk of the original characters or ninjago as a whole

#oc: taliah – in this tag you can find posts that mention or are focused around taliah

#oc: erebos – in this tag you can find posts that mention or are focused around erebos

#art / my art – in this tag you can find posts that have art that is either submitted to the blog or art that is of my own work

#writing / my writing – in this tag you can find posts that include writing submitted to the blog or in which the blog is tagged, or my own writing

#aldmerrow lore – in this tag you can find posts that are focused on the lore of the made up world of aldmerrow from which taliah and erebos reside

#headcanon – in this tag you can find posts that have headcanons that are either submissions, asks, or my own

The Aldmerrow Chonicles:

The Aldmerrow Chronicles is something I've been working on since the show first came out back in 2011 alongside the two OCs that gave birth to it. I never intended to make a fan-season, but as I developed it over time, it's begun to feel that way. It works as the focus season for my two OCs, Taliah of Gideon and her partner Erebos the archgriffin. I post concepts and designs for it from time to time because actually writing the damn thing has been an on and off thing (but lets ignore the multiple info dumps and roleplays I've done with friends about it) so a fanfiction for the time being will be unavailable to the public. You can find all sorts of content for the Aldmerrow Chronicles under the allocated tags.

A brief intro, but as time goes on I'm sure more will be added and changes will be made!

#long post #intro post #no reblogging please bc yikes man #pinned post

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the-original-hybrid-niklaus · 3 years

Text

♚

𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄

It was nothing but an ordinary day in Erebos. Hades is busy sitting in his throne and overseeing the entirety of his kingdom from there. He doesn’t like being the ruler of this kingdom and having no throne in Mount Olympus, so he specifically told the Cyclopes and other builders in the Underworld to create the most wonderful palace in the whole universe that it outranks Olympus itself. It wasn’t his fault that luck wasn’t on his side when he and his siblings drew lots and saw which one of them would control each domain. He just happened to be the last one to get the orb representing the domains, and that left him with no choice. So, if he can’t have a seat at Olympus like the rest of them can, he will make one for himself and his future queen, one made from the purest imperial gold and celestial bronze one can find.

It was indeed an ordinary day for the god of Erebos when one of his messengers told him about the rift on the upper world that connects to the Underworld, where souls in the fields of Asphodel may escape through the crack and live once again. Of course, the god was alarmed and ordered his undead servants to prepare his chariot pulled by skeleton horses with rubies for eyes. He may have gone a little overboard because instead of his robes, he’s wearing his black battle armor –the one he used when fighting with Kronos hundreds of years ago–, and the Helm of Darkness that was made by the Cyclopes.

Taking the reins of his chariot, he commanded the horses to gallop. Truthfully, it has been so long since Hades had enjoyed his day like this. It’s not everyday a crevice on his kingdom magically appears that requires his immediate attention. It was a reason for him to go check the Sicily area where it was seen by his messenger. Hades rode like the wind from Greece to Sicily. It was a pretty nice ride, he can hear the cries of the souls from the river Kokytos, also known in the modern days as the river of lamentations, it’s like the only thing that makes him happy in his centuries of ruling the realm of the dead. It was also a reason for him to go to the upper world and see the sun once again. But he saw something more beautiful than that.

Upon reaching Sicily, where the rift was said to be located, he saw a woman sitting on ground and tending to the flowers and plants on the ground that are withering due to the essence of the Underworld seeping through the trench. Hades pulled the reins that made his skeleton horses stop on their tracks. He took off his helmet and hopped off the chariot to approach the woman trying to save the dying plants.

“Greetings, my lady. I would advise you to step away from the rift as it could cause irreparable damage,” He said politely as he can sense divinity emanating from this woman. She was wearing a white chiton dress and sandals that were gold in color. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry at all. Her hair looked like they were reflecting the rays of the sun back to Hades’ eyes, much like her smile when she turned to face him and smiled. Hades can see her blue eyes glistening as she stared at his black orbs. Her face is full of color, full of life. Unlike his, that has the evidence of death in it.

“Sire, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and these plants. Thank you very much,” she replied, again, respectfully since she can feel divinity exuding from this strange man wearing nothing but black armor made with stygian iron. She can feel power in the air, power that is much greater than her own. It didn’t take long before she realized that this man is the god of the Underworld. “Please fix this crevice because it’s killing my plants, Lord Hades,” she pleaded. Hades wanted to fix this as soon as possible as well. But now, his reasons have grown in number. He was mesmerized with the beauty of the goddess before him, despite not knowing her name. He feels that the withering of her plants is causing her sadness, and he didn’t really want to see sadness in those eyes. He believes that she doesn’t deserve that kind of pain.

“What is your name?”

“Persephone, my lord.”

“I will do whatever I can, love,” he assured her. And so, the God of the Underworld went to work, moving the ground with his power in order to bring them together once again. Now, he wants her to be his queen. He will give her the finest jewelries that there is in the whole universe, and a kingdom to rule, of course. He will make her a queen. They talked for a few hours, where Hades had learned that Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, up until sunset. The conversation they just had is the best he’s ever had in his entire existence. They both have never felt love before in their lives, but they were both sure that this is it.

“Run away with me. Come with me to my kingdom. I will give you everything that you desire,” Hades said lovingly to Persephone. For the first time, his eyes were filled with hope and positivity. He reached for the goddess’ hand and held it between his cold ones and kissed it with his lips. He felt warmth radiating from her palm which battles his iciness.

“I can’t. My mother will weep if I just go with you without her or my father’s permission,” Persephone replied, looking back at Hades’ black, mystifying eyes that were cold, but she could see the sincerity. She could feel something in her heart too. But with her words, Hades grew the confidence and bravery to march to the gates of Olympus and ask his brother for Persephone’s hand.

Admins notes:

• This version deviates from the mythology because I want it to.

• This was for my roleplay account in facebook where I used Joseph Morgan as a face claim for my Hades.

• I don’t like to follow the source material because I don’t like the part where Persephone was abducted and wasn’t even asked for HER consent.

#klaus mikaelson #the originals #freya mikaelson #hayley marshall #kol mikaelson #klaus mikaelson icons #joseph morgan #hades

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

Text

A documentation of every unique magic weapon in 5e

(Artwork of Ephixis, Bow of Nylea from Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

I hate myself.

So awhile ago I asked what weapon type has the most unique Magic Weapons on Reddit and didn’t get much reply beyond “longsword lol.” (Probably because I asked the question at 3 in the morning.) While it did answer my question I’m more so interested in the specific number of unique magic weapons of each weapon type, if only to satisfy my massive nerdy desire for statistics.

So here’s a list of every unique magic weapon in D&D 5th Edition (as of the release of Mythic Odysseys of Theros, and before the release of Icewind Dale or any future books.)

Enchantments that can be applied to multiple (but not all) weapons will be listed under every weapon that can obtain the enchantment and marked in bold. (As there are several enchantments that can be applied to “any sword” or similar.) For the sake of completion there will be a “generic enchantments” list for enchantments that can be applied to any weapon or are too broad to be listed under every weapon. (Example: only one-handed weapons, only melee weapons, only ranged weapons, etc.)

All enchantments are listed in alphabetical order, as listed on D&D Beyond.

SIMPLE MELEE WEAPONS

CLUB

N/A

DAGGER

Blade of Broken Mirrors (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Bookmark (Legendary - Tomb of Annihilation)

Dagger of Blindsight (Rare - Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage)

Dagger of Venom (Rare - Basic Rules)

Dragontooth Dagger (Rare - Rise of Tiamat)

Needle of Mending (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Rakdos Riteknife (Legendary - Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica)

Tinderstrike (Legendary - Princes of the Apocalypse)

GREATCLUB

N/A

HANDAXE

Berserker Axe (Rare - Basic Rules)

JAVELIN

Javelin of Backbiting (Very Rare - Tomb of Horrors)

Javelin of Lightning (Uncommon - Basic Rules)

LIGHT HAMMER

N/A

MACE

Bonecounter (Rare - Sleeping Dragon’s Wake)

Lightbringer (Uncommon - Lost Mine of Phandelver)

Mace of Disruption (Rare - Basic Rules)

Mace of Smiting (Rare - Basic Rules)

Mace of Terror (Rare - Basic Rules)

Mace of the Black Crown (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Saint Markovia’s Thighbone (Rare - Curse of Strahd)

Wand of Orcus (Artifact - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

QUARTERSTAFF

N/A

SICKLE

N/A

SPEAR

Blood Spear (Uncommon - Curse of Strahd)

Khrusor, Spear of Heliod (Artifact - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

Ruin’s Wake (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Spear of Backbiting (Very Rare - Tomb of Horrors)

Windvane (Legendary - Princes of the Apocalypse)

SIMPLE RANGED WEAPONS

CROSSBOW (LIGHT)

N/A

DART

Seeker Dart (Uncommon - Princes of the Apocalypse)

SHORTBOW

Ephixis, Bow of Nylea (Artifact - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

SLING

Sling Bullets of Althemone (Very Rare - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

Two-Birds Sling (Rare - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

SIMPLE WEAPONS (CHART)

MARTIAL MELEE WEAPONS

BATTLEAXE

Axe of the Dwarvish Lords (Artifact - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Azuredge (Legendary - Waterdeep: Dragon Heist)

Berserker Axe (Rare - Basic Rules)

Fane-Eater (Legendary - Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus)

Hew (Uncommon - Lost Mine of Phandelver)

FLAIL

N/A

GLAIVE

N/A

GREATAXE

Berserker Axe (Rare - Basic Rules)

Bloodaxe (Very Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Gurt’s Greataxe (Legendary - Storm King's Thunder)

Orcsplitter (Legendary - Princes of the Apocalypse)

GREATSWORD

Acheron Blade (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Blackrazor (Legendary - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Blade of the Medusa (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Dancing Sword (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Dragon Slayer (Rare - Basic Rules)

Flame Tongue (Rare - Basic Rules)

Frost Brand (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Gambler’s Blade (Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Greater Silver Sword (Legendary - Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes)

Hazirawn (Legendary - Hoard of the Dragon Queen)

Holy Avenger (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Luck Blade (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Moon-Touched Sword (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Nine Lives Stealer (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Polymorph Blade (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Ruinblade (Legendary - Infernal Machine Rebuild)

Sword of Life Stealing (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Sharpness (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Vengeance (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Wounding (Rare - Basic Rules)

Vorpal Sword (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Waythe (Legendary - Against the Giants)

Winter’s Dark Bite (Uncommon - Hunt for the Thessalhydra)

HALBERD

N/A

LANCE

N/A

LONGSWORD

Acheron Blade (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Blade of Avernus (Artifact - Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus)

Blade of the Medusa (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Dancing Sword (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Dawnbringer (Legendary - Out of the Abyss)

Defender (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Dragon Slayer (Rare - Basic Rules)

Flame Tongue (Rare - Basic Rules)

Frost Brand (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Gambler’s Blade (Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Holy Avenger (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Luck Blade (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Mind Blade (Rare - Volo’s Guide to Monsters)

Moonblade (Legendary - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Moon-Touched Sword (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Nine Lives Stealer (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Polymorph Blade (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Shatterspike (Uncommon - The Sunless Citadel)

Sun Blade (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sunsword (Legendary - Curse of Strahd)

Sword of Answering (Legendary - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Kas (Artifact - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Life Stealing (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Sharpness (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of the Paruns (Very Rare - Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica)

Sword of Vengeance (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Wounding (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Zariel (Artifact - Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus)

Vorpal Sword (Legendary - Basic Rules)

NOTE: I am aware of the Veteran’s Cane, however that is listed as a Wondrous Item and not a Weapon.

MAUL

Hammer of Thunderbolts (Legendary - Basic Rules)

MORNINGSTAR

The Bloody End (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

PIKE

N/A

RAPIER

Acheron Blade (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Blade of the Medusa (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Dancing Sword (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Dragon Slayer (Rare - Basic Rules)

Flame Tongue (Rare - Basic Rules)

Frost Brand (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Gambler’s Blade (Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Holy Avenger (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Luck Blade (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Mind Blade (Rare - Volo’s Guide to Monsters)

Moon-Touched Sword (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Nine Lives Stealer (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Polymorph Blade (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Silken Spite (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Sword of Life Stealing (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Vengeance (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Wounding (Rare - Basic Rules)

SCIMITAR

Acheron Blade (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Blade of the Medusa (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Dancing Sword (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Dragon Slayer (Rare - Basic Rules)

Flame Tongue (Rare - Basic Rules)

Frost Brand (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Gambler’s Blade (Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Holy Avenger (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Luck Blade (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Mind Blade (Rare - Volo’s Guide to Monsters)

Moon-Touched Sword (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Nine Lives Stealer (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Polymorph Blade (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Scimitar of Speed (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Life Stealing (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Sharpness (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Vengeance (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Wounding (Rare - Basic Rules)

Vorpal Sword (Legendary - Basic Rules)

SHORTSWORD

Acheron Blade (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Blade of the Medusa (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Dancing Sword (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Dragon Slayer (Rare - Basic Rules)

Flame Tongue (Rare - Basic Rules)

Frost Brand (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Gambler’s Blade (Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Holy Avenger (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Luck Blade (Legendary - Basic Rules)

Mind Blade (Rare - Volo’s Guide to Monsters)

Moon-Touched Sword (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Nine Lives Stealer (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Piercer (Rare - Acquisitions Incorporated)

Polymorph Blade (Very Rare - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Sword of Life Stealing (Rare - Basic Rules)

Sword of Vengeance (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

Sword of Wounding (Rare - Basic Rules)

TRIDENT

Dekella, Bident of Thassa (Artifact - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

Drown (Legendary - Princes of the Apocalypse)

Trident of Fish Command (Uncommon - Basic Rules)

Wave (Legendary - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

WAR PICK

Ironfang (Legendary - Princes of the Apocalypse)

Will of the Talon (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

WARHAMMER

Akmon, Hammer of Purphoros (Legendary - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

Duskcrusher (Very Rare - Explorer's Guide to Wildemount)

Dwarven Thrower (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Grovelthrash (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Matalotok (Legendary - Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus)

Sunforger (Rare - Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica)

Whelm (Legendary - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

WHIP

Dyrrn’s Tentacle Whip (Very Rare - Eberron: Rising from the Last War)

Lash of Shadows (Artifact - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Mastix, Whip of Erebos (Artifact - Mythic Odysseys of Theros)

Mind Lash (Rare - Volo’s Guide to Monsters)

MARTIAL RANGED WEAPONS

BLOWGUN

N/A

CROSSBOW (HAND)

N/A

CROSSBOW (HEAVY)

N/A

LONGBOW

Oathbow (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

NET

N/A

MARTIAL WEAPONS (CHART)

GENERIC ENCHANTMENTS

+1 / +2 / +3

Armblade (One-handed weapons only) (Common - Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron)

Arrow of Slaying (Arrows are the most common but this is theoretically available for all ranged weapons) (Very Rare - Basic Rules)

Corpse Slayer (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Giant Slayer (Any Axe or Sword) (Rare - Basic Rules)

Hellfire Weapon (Uncommon - Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus)

Unbreakable Arrow (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Vicious Weapon (Rare - Basic Rules)

NOTE: For whatever reason there’s a specific unique +1 variation of the Vicious Weapon from Acquisitions Incorporated, known as the “Vicious Rapier, +1”

Walloping Ammunition (Common - Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)

Weapon of Certain Death (Rare - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

Weapon of Warning (Uncommon - Dungeon Master’s Guide)

OTHER

Boomerangs (Listed on D&D Beyond to have the same stats as Javelins)

Storm Boomerang (Uncommon - Princes of the Apocalypse)

Revenant Double-Bladed Scimitar (Unique weapon type - Common - Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron)

Yklwa (Essentially a shittier spear - Tomb of Annihilation)

ALL WEAPONS (CHART)

#dnd #DnD 5e #dnd weapon #list

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btsslowburnfic · 4 years

Text

Chthonic Love Chapter 3

Series Summary: Greek AU Yoongi/Hades x You/Persephone. The Olympic Lord, Namjoon kidnaps you as a "gift" for his brother, ruler of the Underworld. Lord of Death: Yoongi.

Previous Chapter: Chapter 2

“Dear Hoseok,

I am sure you are quite worried about me and so I firstly want you to know that, all things considered, I am ok. Zeus brought me to the Underworld and Lord Yoongi has been a very gracious host. I’ve heard you lost a bet? I need to know what in Olympus happened so I can disentangle myself from any terms you have entered me into. Maybe now you’ll listen to me when I tell you to stop messing with the Olympians.

--Persephone”

You folded the letter and looked around for an envelope. You didn’t see any on the desk so you left and walked over to the door. You opened it and poked your head out to see if Yoongi was out there, but he wasn't. Feeling disappointed and not really wanting to go back to your cold, boring chamber, you turned back into the office. It was much warmer there than the rest of the castle. You appraised the room once more; you tried to remember what all you had heard about Lord Yoongi before today and you realized: not a whole lot. He seemed nice enough, just lightly annoyed that you were here. But if someone had dropped a person off in your house unexpectedly you would also be irritated.

You walked along one of the many bookcases and pulled out a few different books, perusing their covers. Some seem to be journals and you put those back, not wanting to be rude. A few of them have musical notes written in them, you turned your head towards the back of the office, noticing the Lyre and Harpsicord one again. Yoongi must play at least one of them. You continue to browse the shelves, finally finding a small book labeled, “Underworld Compendium.” You take it over to the pile of furs you had made earlier and settle in for some reading.

In the beginning there was Darkness. Before the brothers were Kings of the Realm, they were slaves to their father: Cronus. Cronus, not wanting to share any of his power, swallowed each of his sons, keeping them in interminable darkness and pain. Finally, their mother was able to spare a child: Zeus. Zeus led the charge against Cronus and the other Titans, and in his surprise, the enslaved children were accidentally released. The Titan Wars were waged for decades: Olympians versus Titans. Finally, Cronus was destroyed. The realms were divided amongst those sons who fought in the Titan Wars. Namjoon, who the mortals worship as Zeus, wanted Olympus and ascended to his throne with great fanfare and a feast that lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Jin, Poseidon, enjoyed splashing in the waves and playing with the animals of the sea. Yoongi, Hades, traveled down from Olympus, through the Earth, Through the sea, and arrived at the Underworld.

GEOGRAPHY

The Underworld is comprised of many subsections. At the center of it lies the Obsidian Palace. Hewn into the very core of the Underworld, it is a sight to behold, visible from Erebos all the way to Oceanus. Surrounding the Obsidian Palace is the Desert of Sorrow, bordered by the Stygian Sea to the South….

You yawned and sat the book facedown on the furs. You found the book interesting, you really did, but between the warm fire and the crying earlier, your eyelids grew heavy. You decided to lay down for just a moment and before you knew it, Hypnos was proverbially knocking on your door.

------------

Yoongi had left you to write your letter in private. He’d deliver it to Charon either tonight or tomorrow. To his surprise, he wasn’t as annoyed by your presence as he thought he would be. He started to wonder when the last time he had talked to a person? He occasionally would speak to Penthos, but considering every day was the same, there wasn’t really much to say.

He walked down the hallway and heard voices speaking in a hushed tone.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure she’ll be leaving soon. She seems so nice. I don’t know what your problem is.” It was Lethe.

“She just walks in and acts like she owns the damned place,” Yoongi heard Penthos harshly retort.

Lethe laughed, “She’s a Goddess. The fact she didn’t disembowel you for speaking to her without being spoken to is really something. It’s clear you've never served in any other courts before. While Lord Yoongi is a quiet God, he’s a million times better than most of them.”

Penthos sighed, “I suppose you’re right about that. I’ll see you later.”

Yoongi waited a few seconds and then rounded the corner, he put his hands on his hips, “Lethe, Just the person I wanted to see.”

Lethe froze at first, clearly surprised. After a few seconds, she turned around, bowing slightly, “Yes, my Lord?”

“What room did you end up taking Lady Persephone to?”

“Uh…” she faltered for a moment, wringing her hands.

“I know you didn’t actually put her out in the furthest corner of the palace. It’s fine.”

She let out a deep breath, “She’s staying in the room with the quicksilver door. And I’m sorry she wandered around the castle. I didn’t know if she was supposed to stay in her room or if I was supposed to lock her up. Even though I don’t have a key. I really should have asked first but I didn’t,” Lethe rambled.

“Lethe, it's OK . She’s not a prisoner here, it’s fine.” Yoongi gave a rare smile to reassure her.

“Ok, thank you sir.” she visibly relaxed. “Do you need anything?”

“Just make sure Lady Persephone is comfortable while she is staying here. I’m not sure how long she will be staying, but consider yourself her attendant while she is here.”

Lethe was visibly surprised, “Yes, m’lord.”

This is what I get for complaining that things were too boring. He thought to himself.I’m just glad she’s calmed down. Crying women terrify me. Yoongi continued down the hallway to the furthest wing of the castle. He approached a large set of Enchanted doors. He raised his hands to the sigils and unlocked them. You can’t be too careful. He crossed the antechamber, twisting through another hallway, and finally down a staircase he hadn’t used in decades. He conjured a blue flame to light his path. The air had turned heavy and acrid in the absence of any fresh air. He continued until he arrived at the bottom of the staircase where the floor was dirt. He took a few steps into the small room which connected to the catacombs through various tunnels. He waited several moments before he heard the scratching sound begin against the wall. The sound came closer, accompanied by a clicking noise.

A voice that sounded like something being stretched uncomfortably over a wringer called out in the darkness. “Lord Yoongi. It’s been so long. What does the Lord of the Underworld require?”

Yoongi looked almost bored as the creature climbed closer; its hundreds of black eyes reflected his blue flame.

“Hello Arachne. How are the catacombs?”

“Such a kind Lord. Asking Arachne about the catacombs. This is why you’re my favorite.”

“The catacombs?”

“Fine my Lord. You know we keep the others down here. Its is our privilege to serve the Underworld.” she replies in her raspy voice. Dozens of smaller spiders have started to enter the chamber. Arachne’s children crawl over the walls, eager to catch a rare glimpse of the ruler of the underworld.

Yoongi turned his gaze back to Arachne’s eyes, “Clothes, Arachne. I need dresses. Nice ones, suitable for a Lady.”

The creature let out a cacophonous sound like gnashing teeth. “Oh? Is there a Lady of the Underworld now? I haven’t sewn a wedding dress in centuries.”

Yoongi sighed. He hated dealing with Arachne. Being a gossip is what caused Athena to turn her into a spider in the first place. “No Arachne. Just a visiting Lady who didn’t pack enough. A few normal dresses. No wedding dresses.”

He heard a small wailing sound and watched her pincers quiver, “But I want to make beautiful clothes again. The Underworld needs a Lady for me to dress, and then children to dress. I’ve taught my children to sew, did you know that?” Arachne sounds almost human again as she becomes increasingly excited.

“No. No.” he holds his hand up, glad the darkness is hiding his red cheeks, a mixture of embarrassment and anger coloring his face. He’s becoming sick of others telling him he needs a companion. “Just normal dresses. That’s all”

He heard a collective whining sound from all the spiders, “Very well Lord Yoongi, what colors should they be.”

Yoongi was already turning around and walking towards the door, “You’re the stylist not me. Nice normal dresses Arachne!” He went back up the stairs and straightened his jacket once he arrived on the other side of the locked doors. Arachne would have those clothes done in no time. The poor Spider-Woman had nothing else to do, just decorating the Underworld’s cave system with things people would never see. Yoongi had invited her to come up to the main part of the palace when she first arrived, but she had balked saying it was “too bright” and that “nobody wanted to see a monster.”

He wondered what you were up to. He imagined you had probably finished your letter and were poking your head around the castle some more. He found himself smiling as he walked up the staircase to his office. He opened the door and saw you fast asleep in front of the fireplace. He brought his hand to his mouth and entered the room as quietly as possible, not wanting this moment to end. He tried to decide if he should stay or leave. Instead he found himself just staring at you. You were very pretty. Not in an unnatural way like the other Goddesses he had met, just pretty. He walked across the room and saw You were clutching a book. He knelt down to see what book you had ended up with. Yoongi gently removed it from beneath your arm and ran a finger down the spine. “Underworld Compendium.” A good book. He should know, he wrote it. He grabbed a scrap of paper and marked where you had it open and sat it down next to you.

He walked over to his desk and saw the letter you had written your brother. He imagines that it said “Please come rescue me, I’m being forced to stay with a monster and pretend to be nice to him.” He really wanted to look but knew he shouldn’t. He heard you stir a little and watched you throw an arm over your eyes. Yoongi raised a hand towards the flames, dimming the lights in the room. He looked at the letter again and decided to read it. He took a breath and flipped it open. He read it quickly. It’s a very short letter. He propped his elbows on his desk and held his head in his hands for a moment. He was also eager to see what your brother’s response would be. He thought about writing his own letter but somehow “you fucked up and now I own your sister,” seemed like a bad idea. His nose twitched. He smelled a faint floral scent and looked up. Flowers had started to bloom in a bowl on his desk.

“What the hell is this?” he asked. He heard a faint moaning come from in front of the fireplace, another flower bud appeared. Yoongi felt his face grow warm. He tapped on his Hourglass, watching the sand swirl.

He pulled out one of his journals and began to write in it. He became lost in his own thoughts for a while, the crackling of the fireplace and your light breathing the only sounds. It was soothing in a way he had never felt before.

When he looked up again his desk was covered in flowers. He laughed lightly and heard you start to awaken.

You stretched your arms above your head. Where were you again? You felt the warm fire on your back and slowly opened your eyes. You saw Lord Yoongi sitting at his desk. His eyes flicked over towards you and you suddenly felt very embarrassed. “Sorry. I meant to just rest my eyes,” you said as you sat up. “I hope I didn’t snore too much.”

To your shock he laughs, his deep voice echoing. “Just a little bit. You did make quite the garden here though,” he gestures to his desk which is covered in chrysanthemums.

You blush “Sorry, it happens sometimes. My powers sometimes do their own thing when I'm sleeping or sick. Fortunately, other than making people sneeze, it’s not that bad.” He clearly doesn’t know the meaning behind flowers and you hope he doesn’t look it up any time soon.

You stood up, rubbing your hands up and down your arms at the loss of direct heat from the fireplace.

"it's fine I uh," he runs his tongue along his lower lip, "just didn't know flowers could bloom in the underworld. I've never seen them here."

You laugh a little, "Well apparently they can when the Goddess of Spring is here. Speaking of, when is the next time Charon will be arriving?"

Yoongi moved the hourglass on his desk and looked into it. To you it appeared as though nothing was happening, the sand suspended in between the top and bottom, but he appraised it carefully as though he was reading it.

"Soon," he stood up, pulling his shirt down straight. He pulled an envelope out of the desk drawer and placed your letter inside.

You walked over to the desk to gather the flowers. “Sorry, I’ll just--”

"No. Leave them." he said

You thought maybe he would say more about it but he doesn't. He walked to the back corner of the room and grabbed a cloak.

"Can I come with you?" you asked him

"You don't trust me to deliver it?" he responded harshly.

You feel sad that that's what he thought, your gaze traveled to the floor, "No. I just saw the sea earlier and it looked pretty. And I really don't want to be alone in this giant Palace."

His features immediately softened. "Oh. Ok. Hmm. Hold on." he walks over to you with his cloak and puts it around you, carefully fastening it below your neck. "Here. It's colder out there than it looks."

"Won't you be cold?" you asked in disbelief at how quickly his moods could change.

He shrugged and picked up your letter. "I'm used to it. Don't worry about me."

"I can just stay here…"

"No, let's go." he said and opened the door, motioning for you to go through it.

NEXT CHAPTER

#bts fanfic #bts fanfction #bts yoongi x reader #bts suga x you #bts au fanfic #bts fluff

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braydondarkson · 4 years

Text

Reconcile

After visiting Aegon, who now helps around in an orphanage, Erebos sat at a cliff; it is where he is to meet Romana. He sees that he is alone and stares off at the horizon. The full moon’s light made the waving waters of the lake below sparkle. Erebos may be all about darkness, and night, but he had a fondness for the moonlight, which is the very thing that forbids him from sleeping or even napping today. Erebos waits some more and hears someone approaching.

“Erebos?” A voice calls out. Erebos stands up and turns around. Romana stood there, shivering a bit. She was not cold but was instead anxious. Her hair was a mess and she looks as though she has not slept nor eaten. The low-class Nephilim’s face was wet from the heavy unrelenting flow of tears. Erebos looks at Romana with pity, not knowing what he should say. Romana sees Erebos in his emperor attire and made a mental approval of it; she saw his offsprings with the same robes when they visit Gaia. Her tears have finally stopped as she was overjoyed to see Erebos again.

“I didn’t think you’d show ever show up,” Romana says with a weak voice.

“My mother gave me your letter when I finally returned here to Gaia. She was a better choice for you than my children were,” Erebos crosses his arms as Romana sighs sadly.

“They hate me so much now. I wanted to expl-”

“But you weren’t worth listening to. You weren’t worth hearing out like I wasn’t to you. Feels awful, doesn’t it?” Erebos says with bitterness hanging heavy in his voice. Romana flinched a bit and frowns.

“Yes. It is. And you’re still angry with me, it seems,” Romana replies. She became very anxious bracing herself for the worst. Romana does not know if she could handle it.

“Yes,” Erebos slowly paces back-and-forth, “I am.” Romana just looks down at her feet. She feels she deserves all the anger and hate she received.

“I’m also disappointed. Your friend Rio sabotaged our relationship by telling you lies about me to “protect you”. Really, I plan on making a harem? As a monogamous, that was NEVER fucking happening. And said harem was to include you, my friend Daria, Luxanne, Ramona, Cleo, and even Rio? Half of six I hate, one I could care less for, one whose only a friend now when you and I began dating, and you…….” Erebos stops and exhales some dark frozen vapor.

“I thought you knew me as well as you claimed. You believed the lies, and that hurt more than the hurtful things you would say to me that day. Hurt almost as much as you getting back with Krueger after all the things he did to you, after all I have done to heal your wounds he uncaringly inflicted before tossing you away,” Erebos turns his back to Romana, not wanting her to see his tears fall. Romana bites her tongue, trying not to cry again.

“That damned angel who hurt you and often compares you to that bitch he intends to leave you for when she’s single again, you went crawling back to him!” Romana felt a twinge in her chest hearing the slight shakiness and anger in Erebos’s voice, the former he was trying to hide completely.

“I hated you just as much as I hate them. I never wanted to see you again. I wanted to move on so badly. Wanted to forget you and the memories we made. I wouldn’t have cared if you died the next day. That is how I just felt until this point. I only now feel pity because you were sold on Rio being your best friend whom you can trust above all, who knows you the best, but she was your manipulator. Your abuser like your sister and ex. Despite it all, your actions are your own,” Erebos sits at the cliff-edge as he cleans his face.

“I was a fool. I know that. All the ridiculous things Rio would sprinkle here and there in everything she said should’ve alerted me, but it didn’t. Since childhood, I have believed everything she says. She had me do everything she told me to do as well. Thankfully, Luxanne exposed her for the awful person she was. The revelation broke me because I will finally realize I screwed up and I wanted to mend bridges, with you most of all, the one who I truly ever loved. She and even my grandparents offered to help me do just that.” Romana says as she puts her hands over her erratic pounding heart.

“The thought of never seeing you again, of you Tartarus and Tenebrae hating me forever, subjected me to countless accounts of anxiety attacks,” Romana says this as her breathing quickens again.

“If Pandora or mother knew why we split, that would be the least of your worries,” Erebos huffs out more frozen vapor like cigar smoke.

“Erebos, I’m sorry. You’re right, I should’ve known you wouldn’t and haven’t done those things Rio said. You’ve been nothing but honest with me. About your life on Earth, being the masked killer known as the “Raven King”, being a mafia boss, your relationship with Daria and now being just friends, the existence of your demi-Nephilim children Tartarus and Tenebrae you both had together in the future. Everything. And I never loved you less for any of it.” Romana hangs her head in shame.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to have you all forgive me! Just name it!” Romana says. Erebos says nothing for a long time. Romana’s anxiety was now amping up. Erebos uses his space powers to summon the eight small rings Romana gifted him on his twenty-first birthday and put them back in a few of his dreads on his left. Romana noticed this, and tears of happiness fell.

“I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I’m sorry for how I treated you when we were kids. I thought it a cruel joke you were playing when you said you always liked me, despite the Day of the Devil I’m now known for, after Ramona broke up with me. I’m glad you weren’t joking, and I wish I didn’t believe otherwise. You forgave me for that, and I forgive you for this,” Erebos says. He stands up and looks at Romana with a slight grin.

“You told me to name anything to get me to forgive you, though. Ro Mama, come hug Darkness- oof!” Romana instantly wraps her shaking arms around Erebos and hugs him tightly. Romana had the embodiment of darkness and night’s head buried deep in her cleavage.

“Brrrr!” Romana instantly shivers upon touching Erebos’s cold body, but she endured it and kept hugging. Erebos felt the shiver and set his body’s coldness at its weakest. This made Romana hug him much tighter.

BABOM! BABOM! BABOM! BABOM! BABOM! BABOM! BABOM! BABOM!

Erebos’s head was filled with the fast deep powerful pumps of Romana’s heart. It was getting less and less erratic as he stayed on her chest. Thanks to the moonlight, Erebos could see the freckles on Romana’s breasts. A grin crept on the young Nephosnian emperor’s face whilst his head shook from the force of Romana’s heartbeat.

“I see you’re not wearing a bra today. And I’m making you cold enough for the ‘pokes’ apparently,” Erebos chuckles hearing Romana’s heart pound even faster as she stammers. She stops trying to talk and gasps when Erebos hugs her by the waist and kisses her.

“E-Erebos!” Romana’s cheeks burn red when she felt her butt being squeezed.

“Sorry. Squeezing too hard?” Erebos asks.

“N-No! You just surprised me. You’re usually very hesitant to grope me. And you usually go for my ‘freckled Es’,” Romana blushes even more saying that. She at first hated how Erebos referred to her breasts like that. Why? She honestly does not know. She was embarrassed and anxious by it—embarrassed because of the chest freckles and freckles are a massive turn-off for most Gaians, and anxious about people, especially Ramona, knowing she’s a size E instead of C. Now, she embraces it somewhat.

“I’m not wearing the usual magical material suppressing my….sizes. I have a necklace doing that, and its batteries are dying,” Romana says and the owl necklace glows before evaporating. The necklace’s effect worn off and Romana quickly expanded to her true voluptuous figure with a startled gasp, now her clothes barely fit.

“Huh. Now you’re your true self. Well, almost,” Erebos fixes Romana’s hair as best he could. Romana giggles and makes Erebos feel her chest as they kiss again.

“I’m…..I think I’m in the mood to do that now,” Romana whispers and now it was Erebos’s turn to blush.

“I’m finally here, Romana! Is Erebos he-” Luxanne stops when she notices the couple kissing. Romana hides her face in embarrassment and Erebos chuckles at this.

“Uhhh hi, Erebos. I like your dreads.”

“Hey, Luxanne. That’s a nice curly afro you got.”

“Thanks, but this isn’t the do for me. I have to keep it like this for a few months because I lost a bet. Nice to see you two already reconciled.”

Romana separates herself from Erebos momentarily. Romana tries to calm her pounding heartbeat and crosses her arms to hide it. Luxanne grins at her, then her eyes widen a bit.

“Holy cow! How did you get so big?” Luxanne asks.

“Erm…. I always was this size, but I have hidden it from everyone. Showed it to Erebos when we officially became a couple,” Romana looks away as she says this.

“Damn, Erebos is lucky to you!” Luxanne comments.

“And I’m lucky to have him! N-Not the only well-endowed one here!” Romana notices what she said and covers her face.

“Oh yeah. Prince Erebos here is Njorzon’s descendant….. T-That means you too have those triple sixes! By Gaia…” Luxanne blushes and Erebos sighs to himself.

“I thought only Romana would be here,” Erebos says.

“I was here to be her support unnoticed by you, and also to apologize to you for those years ago. I rejected you out of fear of my parents disowning me. And I had to be cruel in my rejection so that you’d kill all feelings for me and maybe forget I even existed. I’m sorry for doing that,” Luxanne says.

“It’s alright. I understand why you did it. No parent would want their child, even those they don’t care for, being associated with a feared and hated pariah even if he is a prince. They certainly wouldn’t want them loving him either. Well, he’s the new emperor of Nephos now,” Erebos, pointing at the crown mostly obscured by his hair, smirks seeing the two Gaians’ shocked expression. Erebos snaps his fingers and something instantly appeared in his hand. The object of interest was a circlet Erebos puts on Romana’s head.

“I will be going now. I’m sure Aegon would be overwhelmed with the kids by now. It was nice seeing you again, Emperor Erebos! Wish you two the best!” Luxanne smiles and flies away, not wanting to intrude longer in Romana and Erebos’s moment together.

“Sorry, but I’m not ready anymore,” Romana laughs nervously. Erebos just grins and hugs Romana.

“Erebos?”

“Quid? (What?)”

“I love you.”

“Et te amo. (And I love you.)”

“Will your kids be fine with us being together again?”

“Whenever they return with their mother, we’ll talk it out with them. I’m sure they will forgive you when we explain everything. They’re understanding.”

“I’ll be very nervous about seeing them again. I fear Tenebrae will rip my head off or something.”

“She won’t. Hopefully.”

“What a way to calm my anxiety, you jerk! Hehehe…. C-Could you train me? I f-f-feel like getting into martial arts again.”

“Train you?”

“Please?”

“I’ll warn you, training with me is absolute hell.”

“I’ll endure it. I hope to finally be stronger than….this.”

“We’ll start in the morning in Nephos. For now let’s stargaze,” Erebos sits down with Romana on his lap as they stare at the moon, the sky, and the stars, silently enjoying each other’s company.

#original character #ocs #my ocs #Reconcile #Erebos #Romana #raven #owl #original story #reconciliation #drama #original characters #Luxanne #nephilim #angel

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official-lucifers-child · 5 years

Note

Some believe in fairy stories, and the ghosts that they can't see. I know that I could do so much, if I could just believe in me. Mirror mirror, I'll tell you something. I think I might change it all.

@void-of-erebos you need to sleep and here’s how i know:

you message me during the day

you message me in the morning and evening

you’re still awake now and reblogging and replying to my posts

you gotta sleep sometime so either that’s now or later but either way you need to sleep

#sorry if thats not you #but if it is you #GO TO SLEEP #anon #anonymous

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lessofthelego · 4 years

Text

MURKY OF MIRKWOOD

[Part One: Dwarvish Iron]

The whiff of carbon-etheral coloured the atmosphere, a by-product of the lurid gas fittings along the walnut stairway descending to a similarly clad and lit cellar; the low panelled ceiling and lack of ventilation offered no relief to the unnatural closeness of this room, for so it was for such a one who had sat there seemingly overlong. The four that came with him seemed perfectly adapted to this space and gossiped idly with another behind a clerk’s hatch, they knew it was safe to do so for he was secure; the walking-irons about his wrists and ankles rubbed sorely through overuse, his bruised and cut head throbbed and, to compound the misery, the split below his shin had reopened. “Alright there, Murky?” scoffed the intendant, the newest gang member having learned a fresh quarry’s nickname. Murky remained unruffled and offered no reply; having some twenty minutes ago given his true name to the Panel of Eight upstairs; otherwise known as ‘The Mete,’ also ‘The Dispensation,’ or just ‘Heads!’ Now, it has been long established in the Iron Hills that upon the absence of their lord the heads of leading dwarf families govern in a dispensation commonly known as the Mete; this ensures the smooth running of administration and the continuance of law. Most citizens tend to grumble under these conditions preferring to abide under one authority, albeit that nothing much changes for them. These so-called Heads seldom involve themselves in the tedious fundamentals of running daily business, predominantly leaving such matters to their ambitious nephews and such. Notwithstanding it is more than apparent among the rank and file that in the absence of Lord Dáin (now King) they are motivated to do more whilst others do less. However, on this day it has not gone unnoticed by anybody that the incarceration of a Woodland-elf’ has certainly, ‘Turned a few Heads!’

Thus they named their captive “Murky of Mirkwood!”, choosing not to believe his account which, as incredulous as it sounded, was true (it is curious that the truth often seems like folly to those who decide not to hear it:) and so the officiators ordered him to be cleaned up and “Arrayed as one befitting his station!” ere he should face them once more. Therefore Murky waited patiently to be processed and looking down upon his fettered limbs he began to review that day’s events: suddenly with remembrance of pain!

Having wakened for the second time this day, he knew straightway that he’d been blindfolded and collared whilst his incapable arms burned and tore behind him. His manacled hands scrambled awkwardly crosswise between compacted shoulder blades; hands winched up against his lissome spine by a chain that looped through the collar and fed into a small square aperture behind. His ankles being set apart and similarly attached within the stony perimeter. A clattering of linked iron proclaimed his sudden stirring and the entirety of this full-grown elf retorted grudgingly in taut sporadic jolts; indeed it had taken some time to discern how he’d come to be so restrained or indeed where he was. Thus, firmly held in place upon an instant he wondered why; verily the fetid air revealed this mystery, the profound stench and onerous tang of smote iron: Dwarvish Iron!