#Heads Will Roll ;; Nadia Fortune | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

makethatelevenrings · 2 years ago

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For All the Light I Shut Out - FIVE

Chapter Warnings: panic attack

Masterlist (mobile WIP)

“-and I said they were the best damn cookies next to my Ma’s.”

“‘Cause you’re a fuckin’ suck-up.”

“Well, now she won’t stop bringin’ me those damn oatmeal cookies! It’s like she’s got a central line to the fucking Quaker guy.”

Lily stifled her laugh as she passed Sal and Marnie, two of the administrative assistants for the HR and accounting floors. Fawn from the HR department crowed that she had the greatest cookies of all time and insisted on feeding everyone who would talk to her. Most folks learned quickly to avoid her sugary bricks, but it appeared that Sal was her new target.

“Amapola! Get your cute little tush over here.” A hand waved over the heads of the crowd seated in the Wayne Enterprises cafeteria and Lily followed it to find Gloria, Teddy, and Malcolm in their usual seats. Lily set her tray down and slid into her seat, immediately slapping Teddy’s hand away from her slice of pie.

“I’ll beat your ass and you know I will,” she warned. Teddy offered her a sheepish grin which Lily responded with an eye roll.

The administrative assistants tried to get lunch everyday together. It gave them a chance to get away from their bosses and gossip about what was happening on their floors. Lily rarely had something to contribute but she soaked up every bit of information that was offered. She would then help out Lucius by keeping him up to date on office politics. Who was cheating on their spouse, who was possibly embezzling funds, etc.

Assistants saw and heard everything. People forgot that they were present or assumed that they weren’t intelligent enough to understand what was being discussed. Lily had been underestimated and patronized her whole life. She learned to use that to her advantage.

“Hot topic of the day,” Gloria declared. “Bruce Wayne is back and hot as ever.”

“He passed me in the hall earlier and I nearly swooned,” Malcolm gasped. “What do you think his workout routine is?”

“More like, who is…”

“I’m losing my appetite over here,” Lily grumbled. In fact, she didn’t really have an appetite in the first place. For a Fortune 100 company who raked in billions every year, Wayne Enterprises’ employee cafeteria had awful food options. It was free, so she shouldn’t complain, and it was better than when she dug through trash cans for scraps, but still. Was the gray slop on her tray even edible?

“You look like shit,” Gloria observed. “Which is surprising since you average about four hours of sleep a night and still look fresh as a daisy, so what’s up?”

She shrugged and pushed some of the puce-shaded meatloaf across her tray. “Long night.”

Lily could offer up an anecdote about her run-ins with Wayne. She could tell them about how she almost got mugged -- and worse -- last night. She could talk about how her little sister was now in medical school after over a decade of Lily doing everything in her power just to keep Nadia alive.

But she instead deflected.

“Has anyone seen Kallie?”

Kalliope Marks was the only non-assistant allowed in their little group. Where Lily was the science, Kallie was the math. She was a whizz at calculations and quickly became one of the company’s top accountants. But she was a quiet figure who hated being the center of attention. When Gloria asked if she could bring along someone to lunch and Kallie joined them, Lily took one look at the shy woman and decided that they would be best friends.

Gloria grimaced. “Last I heard, Vandeer was chewing her out over a late report.”

James Vandeer, also known as the head of accounting and the biggest asshole of the company. Lily shot out of her seat and tossed the supposed food into the trash. She threw her tray onto the stack growing by the doors and headed for the elevator. Swiping her ID, Lily slammed on the up button repeatedly until the door opened.

The ride to the fortieth floor was agonizingly slow and Lily internally cursed every single dollar that went into the construction of this building. Again, billions of dollars and they couldn’t fund a faster elevator?

The floor was almost silent when Lily stepped out of the elevator. The accounting department occupied two floors and the majority of employees were either in the cafeteria or out at lunch. She swung by Kallie’s cubicle first and swore when she found it empty.

Bathroom, maybe?

Kallie was sweet, but she was also a doormat. She wasn’t a Gotham native, but instead came from Central City after she was offered a job here. Lily’s protective streak ran a mile wide and so when she found out that Kallie wasn’t used to the rough and tumble ways of the city, she took her under her wing. Vandeer yelling at her was bound to make her cry.

Quiet voices in the hallway to the left caught her attention and Lily headed that way. She paused at the sight before her and anger flared in her chest. Bruce fucking Wayne was towering over a shaking, sobbing Kallie. Lily saw red.

She didn’t give a flying fuck if he was her boss or her boss’s boss. As far as she was concerned, he was just a rich trust fund bitch baby who was about to learn a few new insults.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she snarled as she approached them. Lily placed herself directly between them and glared up at Bruce, her dark eyes flashing something fierce. He blinked in surprise and held his hands up to show his innocence. Lily jabbed her finger in his chest, her rage superseding her rationality.

“I don’t know what they teach you rich fucks at Yale and shit, but where I come from, we don’t terrorize innocent people.”

A hand tugged on the hem of her skirt and Lily looked down into the wide, tear filled eyes of her best friend. “He was helping me, Lils. It’s okay. I…I’m just not feeling that great.”

Her hand fell from where she was currently poking Bruce Wayne in the tie and Lily glanced between them. She didn’t have time to feel embarrassed before she kneeled down next to Kallie.

“What’s going on? Gloria told me about Vandeer. Is it okay if I touch you?” At Kallie’s nod, Lily started to rub her back.

“Mac broke up with me this morning and kicked me out of the apartment,” Kallie whispered. Lily’s jaw tightened and she sucked in a tight breath. She hated Kallie’s shitty boyfriend and this was a clear example why. Mac would come crawling back tomorrow, begging for Kallie to come back, and the rose-colored glasses would go right back on. Lily had been urging her to leave him for months now.

“I can key his car,” Lily offered, earning a watery laugh. “I’m not kidding.”

“Should we really be discussing you committing a felony in front of our boss?”

Lily glanced up at Mr. Wayne and found him looking at them with an almost amused smile on his lips. She shrugged and turned back to her friend. “It’s more of a misdemeanor, really.”

“Oh my god, that’s not the point.” The tears had stopped flowing and Lily grinned, wiping off some moisture from Kallie’s cheek with the edge of her sleeve.

“The breakup, Vandeer being a dick as per usual, and being homeless for the day all came bubbling up, huh?”

“Yeah. Mr. Wayne found me sitting here like an idiot trying to do my breathing exercises. It’s so stupid. I had a panic attack over work. I like my job, I swear!” Kallie’s breathing picked up again when she realized who exactly she had been interacting with.

And then Bruce fucking Wayne surprised the hell out of Lily by crouching down in his Armani suit and offering Kallie a charming smile.

“If I’m being honest…some days I don’t like work either. And it sounds like you’ve been dealt a bad hand today. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I’ll let Vandeer and Fox know that you’ll be gone for the day because you’re running an errand for me. Miss Amapola can be excused as well.”

Mr. Wayne reached into his pocket and extracted a wallet. He flipped it open, pulled out a crisp hundred, and handed it to Lily who grasped it gingerly, as if it might spontaneously combust when her fingers touched it.

“Use that to buy some lunch,” he explained.

“I’ll leave the change with Ernie at the front desk tomorrow morning,” Lily replied. He met her gaze with an unreadable expression in his blue eyes.

“Keep it. It’s yours to do with what you want.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kallie murmured.

“Feel better, Miss Marks. Wayne Enterprises is lucky to have you and we want to make sure you enjoy your time here.” Mr. Wayne stood and began to walk away, but Lily darted after him and grabbed his arm with the hand not currently occupied with the biggest bill she’s ever held in her life.

“I’m sorry, sir. For assuming.”

He flashed that charming, tabloid ready smile and waved her off. “It’s fine, Miss Amapola. It’s good to see that my company is protected by strong individuals.”

“I was out of line and I really hope it doesn’t reflect poorly on Mr. Fox or Kallie. I was just conc-”

“Miss Amapola.” He held her gaze and Lily felt herself freeze. There was something about his stare that locked her in place, something that didn’t exist for the cameras. “People rarely go toe to toe with me and tell me what to do.”

Her mouth went dry and Lily shut her eyes, praying that he didn’t fire her. She needed rent money for this month.

“It was refreshing and I hope you don’t start to censor yourself because of me. Sometimes I need to be put in my place.”

She opened her eyes and felt her lips curl into a hint of a smile. Mr. Wayne stepped back from her and nodded in farewell before departing for the elevator. Lily turned back to face Kallie and held out her hand for her friend to pull herself up with.

“You got some bags at your desk? C’mon, let’s grab them and you’ll stay with me for a bit. What do you want for lunch? We’re about to make somebody’s day with the size of this tip.”

#bruce wayne fanfiction #bruce wayne x oc #batman fanfiction #batman x oc #lilyfic

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k1nky-fool · 1 year ago

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The Ace of Swords

Book I: The Devil in the Details

Chapter II: Mortal Conditions

Nadia Satrinava x OC, Callisto

Synopsis: Vesuvia is being devastated by The Red Plague, and the Master Magician, Callisto has found a trail that mysteriously leads into the Palace Court while she searches The Arcana for a cure for the plague. Meanwhile Nadia begins to have hope that Vesuvia isn't as lost as it seems, if she can just fix this city.

Warnings: Sexual tension, future NSFW, but not in this chapter. Mentions of plague victims, and general suffering.

Masterlist

Callisto stood by in the palace garden as Lyra had instructed. Julian found her and eyed the clouds that were becoming more and more malicious by the second.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked.

“I have business to discuss with the Consul.” Callisto said, admittedly she was bragging a little to Julian.

Julian laughed. “Who’d you have to get on your knees for to swing a meeting with Consul Valerius?”

“His girlfriend.” She said blatantly. “And if I seem a little more familiar with Count Lucio, it’s the same technique.” she joked.

The look on his face should be painted and immortalized forever. “So while I’m elbows deep in corpses downstairs, you’re stealing noble women from their husbands.”

“As if their husbands aren’t awful.” Callisto scoffed. “Believe me, after spending a day with Count Lucio, I understand why Lady Satrinava came to the library, desperate for a distraction.”

Julian raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Not that kind of distraction!” She smacked his arm with some force, which made him yelp. “She wanted me to tell her fortune.”

“And you did?”

“She’s Lady Satrinava, as if I could have refused.” Callisto excused.

His head bobbed from side to side, as if weighing the statement in his head. “I think you’ll find Lady Satrinava is a little more forgiving than the other nobles in the palace.”

She immediately wanted to ask more questions, but as if on queue, a tame carriage considering Lucio’s tastes for the palace, rolled up, pulled by two beautiful coffee-colored horses with sleek and shiny hides. The chauffeur turned to her and Julian. “Magician Callisto?”

“Your carriage awaits, milady.” Julian bowed dramatically.

Callisto messed up his hair now that it was within reach to her as she stepped up into the cab. She suddenly felt quite self-conscious now that she was actually trying to impress Lyra. And get information from Valerius, but really she didn’t want Lyra to think she couldn’t handle herself.

She reached into her bag and pulled out some salt. She threw it up into the air, and blew on it to crystalize it into a floating mirror. Her hair was a bit of a mess, so she combed through it a couple times to tame it, noting that she thinks she’d look good with bangs. Callisto considers using a spell to cut her hair here, but the wheel hitting a stray stone made her think better of it.

With all her fretting, she realized the ride was not nearly long enough for her to fix every aspect of herself. Though moments before the carriage door opened, she managed to use a stray rose petal to fix the lingering scent of dust and paint that still resided in her clothes and hair.

A servant meets her outside, and escorts her inside. Through open, and elegant halls, they come upon an all but sparkling dining room, where Consul Valerius, Lyra, and Lady Satrinava were seated.

Honestly, I’d feel a little better if Lyra had just said she was trying to kill me.

“Ah, Lady Satrinava, Valerius, this is the Magician Callisto. An old friend of mine.” Lyra introduced.

“A pleasure to meet you, Magician.” Nadia smiled while Valerius stayed silent, more interested in the wine in his glass.

So she doesn’t want them to know about our meeting in the library. So Lyra has no idea what’s going on.

“It’s a true pleasure to meet two esteemed members of Vesuvia’s court at the same time.” Callisto bowed to them and a servant helped her get seated between the Countess and the Consul.

Callisto brushed her skirt down, and realized she was fidgeting too much, so she just took a sip of her wine. It seems her objective has changed to survive dinner.

“Say Magician, that is a rather impressive emerald on your necklace.” Nadia probed.

“Oh! Yes, it was a gift from my late aunt.” She supplied.

“Is witchcraft a family profession?” Valerius asked.

“A little bit. I was raised by my aunt and she taught me everything I know. I don’t remember my parents, since they died when I was young. I inherited her shop when she passed.” Callisto explained.

"This is a very nice cabernet, Consul." She commented, hoping to change the subject.

He tipped his head ever so slightly. "I'm surprised you recognize it."

Callisto nodded, setting her glass back down. "I brew small batches of honey wine at home. They tend to sell pretty well at the shop, but true wines were more my aunt's passion. Still, I picked up a thing or two. Nothing fancy."

Valerius eyed her cautiously, but his gaze soon went to Nadia. "Was there something you needed to discuss, Milady?"

There was a brief moment before she answered where Callisto only heard the beginnings of a rainstorm falling across the roof.

"Yes, I was wondering what the status of the plague hospitals in the city is." Nadia got directly to her point, or at least whatever point she was trying to make Valerius think she was after. Callisto was left in shock that both her and the Countess had come here on the same night, to learn more about the same thing. "Perhaps you could enlighten me, Consul?"

His form squirmed uncomfortably for only a moment. "As dour as you could imagine." He said, carefully. "They are overrun daily, and the resources and infrastructure to help them aren't there because there is no cure to give them. The best the nurses can do is give them a seat on another boat to the Lazaret."

His pessimistic bite caught Callisto with every syllable. She knew the situation on the streets better than anyone at this table, and Valerius sounded just as hopeless as she felt.

"Though, Lyra tells me that the Magician Callisto is currently employed at the palace in search of a cure." Valerius puts her right back on the spot. "How is progress in the dungeons going?"

This was all Nadia.

She looks to the Countess to see an undeniable smirk of Victory. She was playing Callisto this whole time. She likely wasn't even here to see the Consul in the first place. She knew to find her here.

But she wasn't about to give up so easily.

"Progress is slow. My mentor and I have a hypothesis that the plague seems to react most to a lack of attention. Patients with caring families or access to care will live the longest, it doesn't seem to be the medicine that's keeping them alive, as patients who are given medication and sent home to recover, are usually no better off than those that receive no care and no medication." Callisto says.

She sends a look back to Nadia, who now has a spark of competition in her eye.

If it's me you want to talk to, then it is me you will address.

But she wouldn't do that. Not here, anyway. She's keeping secrets from the table, and Callisto will not be the one to show her cards first. Because this has all confirmed one thing;

Something is going on with the plague.

"Not much else to be done. At least, not that I can do." Valerius shrugs off.

They finished their dinner with Nadia pressing the Consul for more details about his work and what he’d managed to do in his position. Lyra supplies a name or date when he can’t seem to recall it, usually by coordinating it to whatever painting she was working on while she remembered what he was doing too. Callisto minded herself not to speak much unless at least implied to have been spoken to. However, as the time to leave came, Valerius was approached by a servant of his. She whispered something to him, and he spoke under his breath, back. Lyra listened in, but didn't interrupt.

"My House Coordinator has informed me that a rather violent storm has come upon us." Valerius announced. "I'm afraid it would be poor form for me to allow my guests to risk traveling in this. You may stay in the guest rooms until morning, but I ask that you at least wait until the storm passes to leave."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Consul." Callisto quickly said before she said what she really thought, which was that she was dreading being here any longer.

"Yes, thank you, Consul." Nadia bid him farewell as he retired for the night with Lyra. Callisto and her were brought to their respective rooms and left for the night. Though, Callisto was beginning to think that there were maybe some damn answers hiding in this big house.

There would be servants at least wandering the halls in shifts, and Callisto was not nearly familiar enough with the Consul’s estate to evade them. It would be even worse if he has servants outside their rooms in shifts, so escaping into the hall is probably not viable. Though, there was a balcony that looked like it could supply more slippery means of escape.

Callisto opened the door and found the storm was in fact fairly violent, but the winds were tame enough that the roof over the balcony was enough to keep her dry. The thunder and lightning alone would be enough to cause worry for the horses pulling any carriage.

The balcony on the corner of the house was lit by the lamps in the room. Callisto could feel something pulling her there, and she didn’t get this far as a master magician by ignoring her intuition. She looked through her bag to find anything she could use. Unfortunately, she used the last of her salt to make a mirror, but it probably wouldn’t have been enough to get her over there anyway. All she could find was a long spool of string with a needle.

A shuffling in the ivy startled her, but climbing up it, was none other than Clio.

“You came a long way to be here in my hour of need.”

“For you!”

“Do you think you can get over there?” She asked.

“So sneaky.”

“Very good.” Callisto smiled. She took the needle off the thread and tied the end around Clio’s neck, making sure it was loose enough for her to be comfortable.

Once it was secure, Clio leapt from the railing to the next balcony, where she didn’t lose speed as she hopped all the way across until she arrived at her position. Callisto concentrated on the string, and began to hear what Clio was hearing outside the window.

“She wasn’t that bad, Val.” Callisto picked out Lyra’s voice.

“No, I suppose not.” Valerius sounded far more relaxed than he did earlier. “She’s mindful. I appreciate her restraint. If she’s got enough sense to blow up after meeting Lucio, then I’m sure this hopelessness is more a mortal condition than a noble pursuit.”

It seems Lyra told him about the portrait sitting today, in detail. Valerius was at his wits end with the plague.

“She’s a good friend to have, especially when you need her help.” Lyra vouched. “And I appreciate your restraint tonight. The countess was a bit of an unexpected guest, and I could tell you were a little uncomfortable.”

“I know she’s not exactly an ally of Lucio, but I can’t risk letting his private concerns leak to anyone unfamiliar with them. Even if it is his wife.” Valerius stood his ground.

“I won’t say you have to make his drunk marriage your responsibility, but I promise, Nadia is harmless. She doesn’t care for him any more than you do.” Lyra laughed a little.

Valerius is quiet for a moment. “He’s planning something, you know.” He says in a defeated voice. “He keeps begging for my participation, but he doesn’t go into detail. I end up just telling him to find somebody else, but it only takes him little less than a week to bring it up again.”

“You know he has nothing you want.” Lyra scoffed. “Don’t give in to his deals, you know they never end well. Look at the other Courtiers. I mean, do you really want to end up like them?”

“I shudder at the thought.” He says with a sigh as he begins to relax.

“Good night, Love.” Lyra chuckles.

The lights go out and Clio begins her fast journey back.

“You did great, Clio.” Callisto picks her up and hugs her close.

“Good job.”

The sound of another balcony door opening made both of them jump and cling to each other. Nadia immediately saw them, and looked nowhere else. She was in a sleeping robe now. She stayed in her doorway, and without saying a word, she walked back into her room, leaving the door open.

“Invitation.”

“Well, I’m certainly curious.” She told Clio.

She scurried away and sat down. “Moths!”

“Alright, you can stay and chase moths.” Callisto allowed as she stood up on the rail and easily jumped the small gap above the three story drop. It was only scary if she thought about it too long.

The door was left open enough for Callisto to simply walk through. She found Nadia leaning against the bedpost, waiting. “You have my attention, Countess.”

“This is hardly the setting for formalities, Callisto. You may call me Nadia, given we’re away from prying eyes.” She allowed. Callisto could leave. She could decide not to trust her, and leave Nadia here with her questions. Or she could stay and figure Nadia out.

Callisto closes the door behind her.

“You didn’t want the Consul to know we met.” She first noted.

“He’s not someone I trust.” Nadia answered quickly.

If she was lying or had some nefarious intentions, Callisto would pick up on it, but her senses gave her more and more of an currious aura. “I think there's something you want to ask me.”

“Several somethings.” Nadia laughed.

“How did you know to find me here?” Callisto asks.

“I was told that you immediately left the library and spoke to Lyra.” She explained. “I figured you would either go to her to speak to Lucio or Valerius, and I made my guess.”

“Or you knew I already spoke to Lucio because Lyra took me with her to paint his portrait.” Callisto countered.

“You spoke to Lucio?” Her expression is immediately changed to one of worry.

“Yes. I read a card for him.” She says, holding the information in front of her to see how she reacts to it.

A curious smirk crosses her face. “What’s he up to?”

“If you tell me why you invited me in.” Callisto bargained.

“You’re on to something.” Nadia says. “You’ve been asking questions of your Arcana, and they’ve started leading you down a trail. If you have a lead, and it’s in the court, I want to weed it out.”

It was true that the Arcana have been telling her that the plague is within the Palace. And while she’s been thinking it’s something about the lack of efforts from the palace, she's uncovering some kind of conspiracy within the court.

It was Callisto’s turn to answer Nadia’s question. “I only pulled one card for Lucio. Death Reversed. The Arcana said that the stagnation of one is the stagnation of all, and malicious forces fester in the open wound.”

“And you told him that?”

“Yes, I absolutely said that to Count Lucio’s face, he said I was even more terrifying and masculine than him.” Callisto deadpanned. “Of course I explained it to him like he’s five-years-old.”

“You really took ‘no formalities’ personally.” Nadia notes.

“Something is going on, and I’m an ant out here trying to catch a smell of it, so imagine my surprise when the scarcely seen goddess of the palace seems to be watching me, very closely.” Callisto explains like she’s gone insane. “Nadia, forgive me if I’m a little unhinged.”

“You don’t strike me as the flattering type.”

“Only when I’m nervous.” She admits, which gets Nadia to laugh.

“I sense that we have a common goal. Perhaps we could help each other.” Nadia suggests.

“What? I use my cards and you talk to the court?”

Nadia stays quiet for a moment, waiting for her to calm down a little. "Your magic gives you insight into their activities. Mystic forces speak to you, even by just being in someone's presence. I would need your gifts to interpret their inevitable lies."

"You would bring me around the court on purpose?" Callisto laughed. "And even despite my attitude, wouldn't my presence with you alone make them suspicious?”

Nadia pushed off the bed post and slowly walked to meet Callisto. “I would give you a position. I would pay you to be the magical counselor for the Palace.”

“And if I say no?”

“I would let you leave, and I would do my best to uncover this on my own.”

Callisto considered those options. Where do they lead? Will this even help her pursuit of the plague? If she was cautious, she knew exactly who to ask. “Why don’t we ask the cards?”

Nadia looked exceptionally pleased with her.

“I’ll ask the questions.” Callisto said, walking past Nadia to sit on the bed. She shuffled the cards as she joined her on the bed. “Does the end of the Plague lay within the Palace Court?”

There was a brief surprise on Nadia’s face when she asked the question, but she could gather that Callisto’s pursuit of the plague was her first priority, even if it was unlikely that this question alone would convince her.

She pulled only one card, to Nadia’s surprise again. When she turned it over, she was met with the face of The Moon. The voice of the Major Arcana is stronger than ever, especially for this Arcana. “Darkness hides in the shadows of heroes. By facing their mask, you are in danger of falling victim to their shadow.”

“And what do you make of that, Callisto?” Nadia asks.

The answer was clear. There was something in the palace that Callisto needed to snuff out. And Here was her chance to hunt for it. “The Arcana know best.” She smiled. “You seem to have found my skills on your side. Use them wisely, Nadia.”

Nadia leaned over to speak in hushed tones. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” She said, making Callisto swallow harshly. “What did you learn from spying on Valerius?”

Straight back to business, I guess.

“Some regular chatting between him and Lyra, but he did say that Lucio is planning something. Says he keeps begging for his participation, but Valerius keeps denying him.” Callisto reports. “I’m not exactly sure what that’s about, but Lyra did mention the other Courtiers had taken Lucio’s deal.”

“We might be able to get one of them to talk, but it seems like Valerius isn’t going to be saying much more on the topic.” Nadia pieces together out loud. “Have you met the other Courtiers?”

“I had an unpleasant experience with Pontifex Vulgora. Which does mean I met Procurator Volta, since they’re apparently inseparable. And I speak to Valdemar every time I’m in the palace.”

“Which only leaves Praetor Vlastomil, and I don’t envy that meeting.” Nadia winces. “You speak to Quaestor Valdemar regularly. What’s your opinion of them?”

That was a loaded question. “Valdemar just makes everyone’s skin crawl. There's something not human about them, and with my senses, I can usually feel their unsettling presence before I ever see them.”

“That unfortunately sounds about right.”

“Lyra also mentioned you don’t seem to like Lucio all that much.” Callisto brought up.

“Does that really surprise you, or are you wondering if I’m faithful to him?” Nadia asked, suggestively.

She nearly seized up, but broke herself free quickly. “No- I- It makes me wonder why exactly you came here in the first place? I seriously doubt Vesuvia is anywhere near competing with Prakra in terms of appeal.”

Nadia let out a long sigh and fell back to lay down on the bed. “Really, I was just looking for a way to escape my sisters. The marriage was proposed to the public as a political alliance, but it was in my best interest to just be away from home. I suppose I knew it best while drunk, and we were married that night.”

Callisto was left somewhat shocked with this vulnerability from Nadia. She understands why Nadia would feel like she was never in control of her own circumstances, but after years of her being a scarcely seen phantom of the Palace, something made her want to do something about the mess Lucio made of Vesuvia, starting with the court.

“I guess that’s going around. I started working at the Palace to try to be a part of something bigger than myself. I just wanted to help stop the plague. My childhood friend, Asra, didn’t want me to go.” Callisto admitted. “We had a big fight about it. I ended up telling him that I never wanted to see him again.”

“Did you mean it?” Nadia asks.

“I did when I said it, but now I just wish they were here.” Callisto says, that fight still weighing heavily on her heart. “On my own, I’m a master magician, but with Asra, our magic is amplified to something much more powerful than either of us alone. I wanted him to come with me, but he didn’t want me anywhere near the Palace. He never told me why.”

“Perhaps we should see this as an opportunity.”

“To do what?” Callisto chuckled.

“To do better.”

It was a pleasant thought, but this optimism was not something Callisto was used to. “I think we can do that.”

Nadia bid her goodnight and let her leave through the balcony again. Waiting to see how this alliance would look in the morning.

Nadia and Callisto leave in the same carriage in the morning. There are still clouds hanging low in the sky, threatening to rain again, but the worst of the storm has passed. Unfortunately, the future looked more turbulent for Callisto and Nadia.

“So who are we approaching first?” Callisto asks.

“I say we speak to Procurator Volta. She tends to be quite skittish, usually hiding behind Pontifex Vulgora. However I believe that if we need someone to crack, she would be the first to do so.” Nadia proposes.

Something in the air today tells Callisto that today will not be an easy one. Even with Nadia by her side, speaking to the courtiers wouldn’t be easy. Still, something unexpected is hiding, waiting to spring. Out of Habit, she pulls a card, finding The Page of Cups Reversed. “Stay on guard. Something is waiting for us that will likely not be kind.”

“I don’t suppose the cards could be a little more specific?”

“That’s all we need to know.” Callisto says. “I will say that the Page of Cups Reversed usually signifies a childish attitude. Someone prone to chaos and tantrums. I don’t suppose that reminds you of anyone?”

Nadia’s face is one of disdain. “Unfortunately, Vulgora, Vlastomil, and Lucio are all prone to throwing tantrums and fits. I suppose any of them could become an obstacle today. I will be sure to keep an eye out.”

When they reach the Palace again, Julian is waiting by the road.

“Welcome back to hell, Magician.” He greets, only noticing Nadia when she stepped out right after Callisto.

“Good to see you again, Dr. Devorak.” Nadia smiles.

“Lady Satrinava, always a pleasure.” to his credit, Julian recovers quickly.

“Your apprentice has been making friends in high places, I should say.” She notifies. “On our ride I found myself in need of her talents, and I will be promoting her to a counselor’s position. I trust that you can carry on your studies without her for the foreseeable future.”

“Hey, better that you take her off my hands. Better she’s doing something more important than staring at books and records all day.” He says. “And congrats, Callisto. You deserve it.”

“I’ll still come by to lend a hand when I can.” Callisto promised. “I’m just following a different lead.”

Julian seemed to notice that little bit of code. Following a lead was usually code for Unofficial Means. “Then you better be going all in.”

Callisto couldn’t help but smile. “Hundred or nothing.” She patted him on the shoulder as she passed him, following Nadia into the Palace.

“That was an interesting exchange.” She noted.

“You picked up on that too?”

“You were hardly discreet.”

Callisto shrugged. “Not much need for ‘discreet’ when you’re in the dungeons. There, most people would rather catch the plague than look one another in the eye.”

“Why would that be?”

“The plague takes more than lives.” Callisto repeated. It was a mantra for the plague researchers, all of them bearing the weight of every end they’ve gone to for the means of curing the plague. “Where can we find the Procurator?”

“At this hour, they’re bound to still be in the dining room. Volta doesn’t like to stray too far from the kitchens around meal times.”

When they get to the dining room, Volta and Vulgora are present, but there is another unexpected guest. Lucio sits at the head of the table, stuffing his face while Volta makes what Lucio’s doing look like a polite tea time date. Vulgora tells a rather loud story to Lucio about some violent excursion.

“Well, this is a lively scene.”

“Oh! Noddy, you know Callisto too?”

“Yes, I’ve actually hired her as a mystic counselor for the palace. Her talents could be of great use to Vesuvia.” Nadia vouched.

Lucio rolled his eyes and slumped back in the chair. “Just like you to snatch my new friends from me.”

“Count Lucio, just because I am employed here under Lady Satrinava’s command, doesn’t mean I won’t have some time off.” Callisto tried to assure.

He does seem to light up a little at the assurance. “Promise?”

“A magician is bound to their word. I still promised Lyra I’d preserve the lighting for your portrait, so I’ll be around when you need my talents, sir.” She gave a respectful bow.

“I’ll hold you to it.” Lucio swears. Callisto shares a look with Nadia, both of them surprised that it went over as well as it did. He must be in a good mood. “What would this Magician’s talents do for the court, Noddy?” He put her directly on the spot.

“I already have some ideas. Callisto’s guidance can help with finding the best course of action for my efforts.” Nadia said cautiously.

“Oh this again.” Lucio scoffed. “The city is fine, Noddy. They’re always in good spirits at my festivals and parties.”

Nadia attempted to calm herself down, but it seems she was unable to hold her tongue this time. “Because you only meet the people who are well enough to attend.”

“I’m helping them!” Lucio shouted.

Nadia abruptly stood, shocking everyone, but most of all, Lucio. “Parties and festivals!? That’s your idea of helping plague-ridden citizens marching to Lazaret, polluted water running red through the canals, overwhelmed medical centers, starvation in the streets, and not to mention the entire district of Vesuvia that is half underwater and still sinking!?”

Lucio jumped up to argue too, now that this was clearly a fight that Callisto was awkwardly stuck in the middle of. “What could I even do about all that?”

“Clean the damn water! Clean living, infrastructure, food! The Palace has the resources to help its citizens, but you’d rather spend enough money to feed all of them to fill the garden fountain with Golden Goose for a party!”

“They’re not important!” Lucio screamed with finality. Nadia was prepared to fight back, but Callisto placed a hidden hand on her knee.

Nadia just quit and sat down. Volta had hidden under the table with all the shouting, and Vulgora looked disappointed that Nadia had backed down.

Lucio walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed two swords from the armored figures, tossing one to Vulgora “En Garde!”

Callisto noticed Nadia rubbing her temples to ease the clearer headache that gave her. With Lucio distracted, they could speak. “I apologize for that, Callisto.”

“I’m sorry you’re married to him.” She responded quietly, making Nadia smile and hold back her laughter.

“Shh, you’ll get us into trouble.” Nadia teased, but got serious again. “I’m afraid I’ve made a fool of myself and I’ve ruined our chances of getting information from Volta.” Seeing as Volta was cowering in the far corner of the table, scarfing down food while shaking, that may have been an accurate statement.

Callisto looked over to Lucio and Vulgora fighting with the swords. There were combat spells, and some of them provide very great opportunities to learn a magician’s opponent beyond mortal bindings. “I have an idea.”

She took a look at the table for any spice or herb that could help her. She took a generous pinch of dried chamomile from the glass dish used for tea, and pulled a crystal from her bag. She held them together and the crystal began to glow, before it dimmed and Callisto rubbed the chamomile over her body which gave her an enchanted glow for a moment, before disappearing into her skin.

She got up and approached the duel. Lucio and Vulgora didn’t even notice her coming closer until she came between them and Lucio faltered to hurt her, which she recognized as a reaction to her magic protection, but Lucio would not know why he didn’t just move her out of the way.

“If we take this to the courtyard, I’ll challenge both of you to defeat me.” Callisto announced to both of them.

Nadia was left shocked, Lucio gave an impressed, but determined grin, and Vulgora was barely able to contain themself.

“Are you very sure about this?” Nadia asked, discreetly as they made their way to the courtyard.

“I don’t need to win, I just need to keep them fighting for long enough that I can use a spell to interpret their hearts.” Callisto explained.

“There’s a spell for that?”

“There’s a spell for everything. Even for great evil.” She warned.

“And you do know that Vulgora is a former warlord, and Lucio conquered his way all the way to Vesuvia from the far South?” She informed.

“I was aware of Lucio, not aware of Vulgora, but in the end, their combat prowess will not help them fight me.”

They got to the Courtyard and Callisto immediately got to work, grabbing plants from the garden, some poisonous, some medicinal, some were innocuous, and she shredded them up in her fingers. She took the string from her bag, and gripped around it with the mix in her hand, and she ran the whole string through her mixture.

All of this before they found where this duel would begin.

“Vulgora, try not to kill my new friend.” Lucio chastised.

“She will only die if she is weak.” Vulgora spat.

“Don’t kill me, and I won’t kill you.” Callisto said. “I have ways to earn victory from beyond the grave.”

“Oh this will be good.” Lucio grinned.

Callisto held the string and channeled her energy through it. She focused on the weight she wanted, and the weapon she needed to wield. The string gained weight and strength as it became warm to her touch. To them it would burn.

She raised her arm and cracked the fiery whip she’d fashioned out of her magic. The splitting sound made everyone but Callisto flinch with the sound of thunder.

“How is that fair?” Lucio whined.

“I am a Master Magician, Count Lucio.” She said with a smile. “The world around me gives me power. Where do you get yours?”

She’d been wanting to wipe that awful smile off his face since she met him. Put him in his place as a mere man that would never care enough to grow enough to learn the same power that she had sweated, bled, and cried for. But the purpose of her question was to keep it on his mind while they fought so she could exploit their track of thought.

Her taunt was good enough to make Lucio strike first. Her whip wrapped around his neck, and forced him directly into Vulgora.

“Get off me Lucio! You buffoon!” Vulgora cried out, but Lucio’s neck was burning.

“My power comes from something way more powerful than this witch.”

Callisto released him from the whip as Vulgora charged at her. They had her on the defensive fast, and she was barely fast enough to keep away from the blade. However, if the blade was the problem, Callisto could fix that.

She gripped the whip and wrapped it around the blade, making it heat up enough that the leather on the handle wasn’t enough to protect their hands from being burned by the sword.

“You witch!” Vulgora screeched, Callisto whacked their sword at Lucio, who expertly deflected it with his sword. She swung and caught Vulgora’s ankle with her whip.

“I refuse to be defeated by a mortal.”

That caught Callisto off guard, but she still had a fight to worry about.

She managed to heave the whip and throw Vulgora in front of Lucio so he’d trip over them.

“Out of my way, idiot!” Lucio shouted, kicking them down.

Callisto released Vulgora from the whip as she waited for Lucio to make his move. He circled her slowly, analyzing for an opening. She let him get behind her, and he took that as an opportunity. She was waiting for him, and managed to wrap the whip around his torso diagonally.

“Not even death can defeat me.”

She gets distracted long enough for Lucio to trip her and hold his sword to her throat.

“I win, Callisto.”

She held up her hands in surrender, letting the whip dissipate back into a string. “I expected as much. But I couldn’t deny the temptation of a worthy opponent.”

Lucio smirks and goes over to gloat at Vulgora, but Callisto has emerged a true victor. She found precisely what she was looking for, only she knows it is only the beginning of something she can’t quite make out yet.

“That was beautiful.” Nadia strides up to her as she’s brushing dirt and grass from her clothes.

How to even begin describing this to Nadia. “Thank you.”

#nadia satrinava x oc #nadia x apprentice #nadia x mc #nadia satrinava #julian devorak #asra alnazar #count lucio #consul valerius #arcana visual novel #arcana fanfic #the arcana #oc: callisto

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abominationvault · 9 days ago

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Session 56: Sat 2 Nov 2024

Well it’s been a few weeks, what did we do last time? *re-reads notes* A battle with a seugathi and a destrachan? I’m pretty sure we won… Sprocket has opened another Teleportation circle, Skabb found a Wand of Status, and for my own information, Nadia has made some bombs. Greater Redpitch ones, too! We went to have a kip at Hotel Mitflit, and can have all our HP back.

Discussion about Skabb’s home-made stew and who might chance trying it. The phrase “slice of urine” is spoken; fortunately I miss the context. Hartvig is feeling better, so our cleric (“I’M NOT A FUCKING CLERIC”) is good to go. Let’s Dungeon some Dra- I mean, Find some Paths!

Jorg’ath is nominated to do the recap: There was a guy who was a worm, and he had a notebook, and we were heroes! And the lizard suplexed something into a hole, I miss the rest. He gets a Hero Point for the recap. Skabb drew an arrow on the map pointing us toward the door we chose last week, so we charge on through.

Jorg’ath takes the lead. This corridor looks like it’s seen a lot of use; there is sand in here from the floor of the arena. He gets down and wiggles on his belly to remove any lice. (There weren’t any; Skabb already checked him for snackables.)

Skabb thinks Nadia should shoot Jorg’ath, but only with a tangle-bag. (Again, I missed the context.) Jorg’ath: “You leave my dangle-bag out of this.” He wins a Hero Point.

Skabb makes a Perception check: dirty 20. There is no pattern in the sand, but it looks as though it’s been trailed around the corner to the west. She wants to make a Nature check to see if she knows what kind of beasties might live here: Green 32! She isn’t sure. There are too many tracks; some look bipedal, and others look left by things with no legs at all, and some like widely-spaced circular holes. Something many-legged. Giant spider, or Drider maybe. (Hartvig: “So not only are we fighting giant spiders, but also Wizards of the Coasts’ IP lawyers?”) Jafaki, perhaps...?

Jorg’ath knocks on the door to the south. No response. He wants to kick the door in: Athletics check 33. “I am so athletic!” There are two big things in there…

He sees something that might be Jafaki. Books, glass bottles, on shelves. Dissected remains of creatures, a severed morlock head, still alive and screaming. Luna and Skabb use their readied attacks. Luna does damage, Skabb’s sling-bullet bounces off the not-a-drider.

It shoots a fireball at us. Luna: “Stop drop and roll!” We make Reflex saves; Luna and Nadia take half damage, Skabb, Sprocket and Hartvig fail hard enough to take double-damage. Sprocket is vulnerable to fire damage, so he takes four extra for a total of 52, ouchies.

Then something else gets a go on us. Because Jorg’ath is extra-medium, is he big enough to block the attack - no, no he’s not. Grabby makes a belated save against the fireball, and ends up with 'one tasty hit point' left. What about her goblin-dog? He’s a coward so he’s at the back and can’t be killed unless Skabb is.

Jorg’ath makes a Will save, DC 28 - he rolls a 27. “Ah, what?!” He Hero Points for worse and is Confused. That was an attack from Jafaki, it turns out…

Initiative!

Sprocket goes first. He casts Haste on Jorg’ath, and has Augustus cast Shield.

Hartvig next. He looks at his friends that he likes, and tries to see which one looks the grossest; who has the worst injuries? It’s Skabb, so he does a big Heal on her. Resentfully. 24, plus 14 HP back for her! He uses his last action to stride confidently around the corner so if there’s another fireball he won’t get roasted. “You’re doing a great job, well done,” he calls to us as he disappears from view.

Confused Jorg’ath rolls a d6 - odds he goes to us to attack, evens to the baddies: 2! He does a big gozz on the Dride- er, spider elf thing. It saves and takes half damage. He has an action left. “Let’s smack it real hard.” 20 to hit and it’s flat-footed! He makes another Will save - 17, no. Still Confused.

It’s Jafaki’s turn I think. He casts Phantasmal Killer on Nadia - she crit fails her save and must make a roll to see if she dies right there on the spot. Wait! Hero Point! Still a fail but not a crit, so ONLY 8d6 mental damage and she is Frightened 2. Inspired by our wafty little not-cleric, Jafaki disappears around a corner. Real nice.

Luna is up next. She does her traditional hide-and-shoot combo for a hit with a 32 against the not-drider, which is flat-footed so she gets her Sneak Attack damage as well. She makes an Occultism check on the thing but only gets a 5. We have seen one before though, so she knows what it is. And that it’s big and ugly and she doesn’t like it. 24 hits again, and then she ducks bravely around a corner.

Skabb casts Sudden Bolt on the Drider - it makes a Reflex save, green 35. She uses her last action to give Grabby two, and Grabby skedaddles up next to Hartvig to bosh a potion.

The not-drider goes next. We try to convince it to play cats cradle with itself, or throw healing potions at us, but the DM is not convinced. How about a full 3-action apology? It throws an acid arrow at Augustus instead, and hits him for 24 damage, and 5 persistent. Sprocket: “Well it’s going to be a short game for me.” Then it attacks Jorg’ath, who is conveniently standing right there. Green 33 for 18 slashing. “I'd like to throw this out there: that’s really rude.” It’s a crit, so Jorgy takes 53 damage - on the plus side he can roll a flat check to recover from the Confusion. 12! Success!

Nadia, Frightened 2 and hands shaking, raises Alkonost and uses one of her Greater Redpitch bombs on the not-drider. 31 hits for 3 fire damage, 3 piercing damage, and 11 persistent fire damage! She shoots with Bluebird, misses, and that’s her turn. She reduces her Frightened condition by 1.

Sprocket Summons the Moss Sloth! We all start chanting. Using his magical sloth abilities, Randy can walk on walls and ceilings as if they were difficult terrain, smelling rancid as he does so. He climbs up to the drider and really slowly reaches out and does a wooden claw attack. It misses; Randy falls asleep. Augustus has nothing in his inventory that will help, so he goes around a corner and looks a little worse for wear as a free action.

The DM shows us Jafaki:

Hartvig is up: he pops out from his side corridor and gives Jorgy a Heal. 44HP back! And with that Jorg’ath is up, and no longer Confused. He eyes the drider up - how is he looking? Perception check 24. It looks badly injured. Jorgy would like to add to it please. A few slashes with the greatsword and howdydoodis! He sticks the sword into the drider’s belly and stirs until its insides fall out like porridge. He strolls over to quote “twat Jafaki around a bit”, but misses.

Jafaki attacks him with a rapier, critting with a 39 for 14 plus 24 damage. The rapier is venomed, it turns out, because Jorg'ath knocked on the door before booting it open, alerting Jafaki to our presence. (Hartvig: “… I just MADE those hit points!”) Fortitude save for Jorgy: 28. “Ha! Take your venom and stick it up your…” Well, that was attack #1. Jafaki bites him but misses. Jorg’ath is quite hard to get purchase on, it turns out. Rapier attack, and that misses as well.

Luna is next, but is AFK (snoozing) so Sprocket wakes her up. She sets about Jafaki with her own rapier and hits, then stops and has a think. Occultism 10. "Oh well. Stab!" She misses. (Jafaki counts as flanked going forward, as he’s cornered.)

Skabbins. Can she see Jafaki? Yes. She shouts at Jorg’ath to watch out, not that he can move. She casts Lightning Bolt anyway, even though he’s in the firing line. The DM rules that it will miss him since he’s not directly in line, and then Jafaki crit-saves against the spell anyway and takes no damage. Skabb is annoyed.

Nadia comes in to the room, and spots the bombs on Jafaki's belt in glass vials. Would it be a feat to make a called shot on one of those...? Yes, it would sadly, and she doesn't have it. So with nothing else she can do, shoots at Jafaki and misses. But! She’s now no longer frightened!

Randy crawls slowly across the wall - and makes a ranged strike at Jafaki with some fruit he has… expelled. He crits! 7 bludgeoning plus 6 crit damage. It was a nectarine, slightly rotten. The stone goes into one of Jafaki’s eyes. Jafaki is suitably disgusted. Randy does it again, and crits again! 5 bludgeoning and 12 critical damage. He smiles. It turns out Jafaki is resistant to bludgeoning damage, so the DM has to give him back 10 hit points. Sprocket, growling: “I will not soon forget this.” (Augustus has de-manifested, I think, but I’m not sure why.)

Hartvig. “… Hartvig indeed. You may well say. Because you are correct.” He waffles for a bit longer, and then stops for a think. "The dolly is nearly dead, right?" Yes. He charges in and Heals Jorg’ath for 28HP, presumably while receiving a Look from Sprocket.

Jorg’ath would like to do Intimidating Strike, in hopes of not only wounding Jafaki but also shattering his confidence. 28 hits for 17 slashing damage and 4 something else, but he is immune to mental effects and is therefore not Frightened. Jorgy goes for a cuddle - 21 Athletics which Jafaki beats by 1 and wafts over away from him.

Jafaki throws a bottled lightning at Jorg’ath - 24 misses! Which means he still takes the splash damage, as does everyone within 20 feet. Since that was a miss, he goes for the Cloracle (Cloracle! We all love that, that’s staying) and crits. Hartvig is down… but he gets a posthumous Hero Point for healing everyone else but himself. “Yay! I want to be buried with it!”

Luna next. There’s nowhere for her to hide in here. “I’m just gonna shoot it.” She misses all her attacks…

Skabbins is next. Blazing Dive! Jorg'ath is most proud. Jafaki crit-saves against her attack, for his third crit-save against her. It's starting to feel personal now. He does take the 6 additional damage from the attack, however. She bites with her Grill of Abomination Bane and hits - and Jafaki, it turns out, is an Abomination! Can she take a worm-type creature out of her pocket and eat it slowly in front of him? she can, and she does.

Nadia shoots a redpitch bomb at Jafaki and hits for 8 piercing, 2 fire, and 6 persistent fire, and then hits with bluebird as well. She gets a Hero Point for not running away! (This game obviously doesn't have Poor-Decision Points.)

Randy the Moss Sloth crawls along the ceiling above Nads’ head, showering her with what she hopes is only dandruff, and bolts another rotten nectarine at Jafaki but it misses. Sprocket then summons a Soul-Bound Doll to Heal Hartvig with, giving him back (I think) 11 hit points.

Hartvig would have made a death save, but now he doesn’t have to! He is back - but wounded. (Sprocket: “SozRoflLol.”) Hartvig could heal himself, or he could throw all the needles at Jafaki? (Jorg’ath: “Spoil yourself!”) He decides on Spiritual Armament instead, swinging it at Jafaki with a 24, which misses. He still has an action, so if he Sustains the spell, he can attack with it again. 9 is also a miss.

Right Jorg’ath, what you got? (He puts his hand on Hartvig’s shoulder. “You’ll do some damage one day.” Hartvig gives a big shaky sigh.) Jorgy hits Jafaki for a bunch of damage, then a miss. “At least I didn’t drop it.”

Jafaki takes 6 persistent fire damage at the top of his turn, then attacks Jorg’ath with a 29 rapier attack, and forces a Fortitude save - Jorg’y crits. He’s going to stab him again. “I wish he wouldn’t.” 28 hits for 15 damage and another save - Jorgy fails, and is envenomed and Stupefied 1. Jafaki wants to have a third attack - 19 misses, luckily.

Luna is AFK, so Sprocket has her jaunt over to flank Jafaki and stab him with her rapier. 27 hits for 7 piercing, then 17 misses. Wait - Howdy doody? Howdy doody!!! She plunges her rapier into the smuggest bit of Jafaki, up to the hilt, and stirs. The bits of jelly fall out into Skabb’s mouth.

Combat over, Nadia goes for Jafaki's unused bombs and gets a bottled lightning and an acid flask, while Skabb rummages for potion ingredients. Randy disappears; chorus of “Bye Randy”.

Skabb finds a +1 rapier, which she gives to Luna, a Wand of Gentle Repose, a wand of second level magic missi- er, whatever the non-Wizards one is called. Force Barrage, that’s it. He also had a set of keys and some Expanded Alchemist’s Tools.

The Drider had a +1 Composite longbow, 20 arrows, and a glaive; we snaffle all the useful stuff.

Jorg’ath approaches the screaming morlock head and tries to smother it, but it’s being kept alive by the machinery. Hartvig makes an Occultism check - 23. He manages to disconnect the morlock. The head dies, and the machinery is broken. He spits in it for good measure. He looks at the notes next to the head - it was destined to become a flesh golem and would have hunted us throughout the whole dungeon if he hadn’t put a stop to it.

We find all the pieces for an Expanded Alchemists lab, some expanded healers tools and a superb toolkit? I think? 2 vials of anti plague, a crafter’s eyepiece, and something else. (Nadia discovers she already has an expanded alchemists tool kit in her backpack, and asks the newly-resummoned Augustus if he minds carrying the new ones. He sighs.)

Jorg’ath hacks Jafaki’s head off so we can take it back to Sprocket’s new Mummy-Daddy, AKA. Chuffcum. (Mummy, because... undead, bandages, you get it.) We toddle off, avoiding the other door for now as we think that might be where we left the enormous monster that time we didn’t have Sprocket and Luna with us.

We do some healing before we go, as Skabb doesn’t trust Chuffcum and wants to go prepared for a fight if need be. She heals Jorg’ath, Hartvig, and Sprocket, and Jorg’ath heals Nadia. Hartvig heals Nadia and Jorg’ath again, and Skabb slaps some mud on Luna before she realises what’s happening. To Chuffcum!

The DM zips us to Chuffcum’s cupboard. We find him packing up his papers; he is off to Assyrium. (sp?) Were we successful, Chuffcum asks? Jorg’ath drops Jafaki’s head on his paperwork; he is delighted. He draws us a map of the level we’re on, including all secret doors, and how to disable a trap we’ve already disabled with our squishy bodies. The DM tries to disable the fog of war on Roll20, and ends up obscuring all of the map except the room we’re in. “Hmmm.” He tries again, and WE SEE ALL. Including monsters! The piece of paper he’s written it on also includes the spell Freedom of Movement for anyone capable of learning it. Skabb is initially put off by all the words, and then remembers she can just feed the parchment to Grabby Cat.

Chuffcum looks at Sprocket, and sets about teaching him the spell Create Undead. OoooOOoooOO! We can feed Augie with this, by animating already-dead creatures, thereby making them into something he can eat.

Mummy-Daddy wishes us the best and leaves to spend his days performing various acts of evil. Sprocket says he will come and visit. (Skabb seems befuddled; she is having an internal conversation with herself about trusting people.)

Jorg’ath wants to kill the big thing first because it’s SO FAR to walk to the little monsters. He is overruled and asks to be zipped back to the pub so it’s not as far to walk. Nadia immediately goes to the bar for wine, and we call it there.

#dnd #pathfinder #abomination vaults #abomination vaults spoilers

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lys1 · 3 years ago

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This is an Asra x fem!reader. NSFW for sure, porn WITH plot <3 this is my first post on tumblr so feedback appreciated.

——————

You walk through the dusty streets of the Market towards the palace. Hundreds of stalls loom up on either side, alive and vibrant with colors, smells, and tastes. It feels good to be back in the heart of Vesuvia.

You turn to look at Asra beside you, keeping your exhausted pace. It had been 8 days since Nadia had asked Asra and yourself to go check out some mysterious magic happenings on the outskirts of the city. You scoff to yourself, mysterious indeed, it took half the time to even track down the little pixie creatures causing ruckus and mayhem. Eventually, after some exhaustive spell casting and careful teamwork the two of you had managed to return the troublesome pixies to the proper magic realm they escaped from.

You yawn tiredly, loosening the emerald colored traveling scarf from around your neck. It was afternoon now, and the sun was beating down.

"Almost there now," Asra spoke up, breaking the silence. He looked fondly over at you, a smile lighting up his sun kissed face. Even so, you could see that the time away from home had taken its toll on him too. You were both more than ready to hit the hay.

You nod slightly, keeping back another yawn. "I hope Nadia has food for us, I'm starved." The villagers in the towns you had visited were kind and generous, but nothing could beat the delectable food that the palace prepared.

Asra chuckled, "I'm sure that right after we fill her in on the successful pixie management she'll immediately be tending to us like a mother hen. You know how she is, she loves to provide." He pushed back his curls from his face to wipe his brow of sweat, smiling as he too imagined the delicious array of food that was about to be offered. He picked up his pace at the thought, making you jog a bit to keep up.

The Palace gates soon loomed over the two of you, sparkling and gold in the summer sun. The guards at the gate looked up as you approached.

"Ah, the magicians! I trust everything went alright?" One asked, clearly recognizing the famous duo. He smiled warmly, maybe a little starstruck.

Asra returned his smile, "it was simply magical."

You rolled your eyes at the terribly overused pun as the guard gave a hearty laugh. The two of you were waved in and informed that the countess was waiting for you in the dining room.

"Oh even better," you groaned in appreciation. "We get to eat while we talk. I love Nadia." Your stomach growls in agreement. Asra flashes you a beautiful smile as his feet climb the stairs alongside yours.

"And clearly," he adds, "she loves us back!" He was particularly looking forward to some blue tongued skink, Nadia knew it was his favorite.

It only took a couple minutes to reach the dining hall. One of the servers was bustling out the moment You and Asra rounded the corner to the door.

"Oh, hello!" They said, giving a small polite now. "The countess is expecting you! Please, come right in." They moved aside, holding the large ornate door open with one of their hands.

You wink and whisper your thanks as the two of you make your way in. Immediately your mouth fills with saliva at the smell that filled the room. The table was large and being filled with platters of many foods of different origins. The gold dinnerware twinkled delightedly up at you and the red wine glimmered deep and inviting.

"Welcome, friends." Nadia opens her arms, rising from her chair. She had just been sipping on some pre-dinner tea while waiting for her guests. She was smiling, and looking absolutely magnificent in her shining purple and gold robes.

"Hello Nadi," Asra said, joining you and her in a quick hug before seating himself at the table. You follow, sitting beside him as Nadia resumes her seat. The servants bring the last platter of steaming dumplings out at that moment.

You sigh contentedly. "This looks amazing Nadia, I feel spoiled."

Nadia smiles, the faintest blush on her high cheeks. "Anything for my favorite magicians, willing to travel far and wide in aid of Vesuvians in need." She adores, raising her wine glass. "To my dear friends, what I would do without you, I wouldn't know."

You and Asra raise your glasses with her, each of your own cheeks now a healthy pink. Nadia declares the meal to begin and you all dig in.

"Oh my, what troublemakers!" Nadia declares, after hearing the story about the pixies. The food was being relished amongst every plate and the wine was flowing steadily. "I can't believe such tricky little creatures exists." She continues, eyes sparkling as she pours another cup of wine.

"Yes, well, the magic world is something else entirely." Asra laughs, relaxed and feeling full. He was lounging comfortably, one hand gripping your thigh, another holding his gold goblet. His skin was warm and aglow.

You had your own hand comfortably nestled in his snowy white locks, massaging slow circles into his scalp. It had been a long 8 days and you were both happy to finally be able to relax into each other while having pleasant conversation.

"You should have seen the way they caused mischief," you add. “Oh I felt terrible for that village. So many upside down cows to turn over." Asra smiles as you tell the story, closing his eyes and leaning into your gentle touch. It was, to put it simply, the best feeling he could imagine. Well, almost.

Nadia chuckles again. "Well, I'm just glad that they are gone and we can laugh about this." She says, sighing in slight relief. "Vesuvia is fortunate to have two talented magicians like yourself. I am fortunate to have you as my friends. Your well deserved payment is in your guest room."

Asra blinks, "oh, you're offering us a place to stay tonight?" He asked, the gratefulness clear in his tone. You couldn't help but agree, walking back to the shop did not really sound like something either of you wanted to do. Especially, you muse, lifting your glass to your lips, after how many wine jugs the three of you had emptied.

"Why of course," Nadia looks surprised that we even had to ask. "And," she continued, "use of my personal bath this evening. You two more than deserve some relaxation and.. fun." She ends her sentence after a slight pause, giving you both a side glance full of humor.

You feel your cheeks go slightly hotter at the obvious suggestion. However, embarrassment aside, nothing else sounded better right now. You look down at your lover who was now lounging against your lap and smile. Oh how far too long it had been, the pixies had been relentless and had not offered much down time.

Asra chuckles, clearly more comfortable with the suggestion. He always had been a bit more confident when it came to discussing your private life. You found it quite endearing.

"Oh Nadi," he smiles. "You just made this evening even better somehow. I can't wait to take my love there and-"

Nadia waves her hand, laughing at your horrified face. "Please, please, I certainly don't need to know details." She grins, "just go, and take the wine."

Asra didn't need more encouragement and sat up promptly. He looks down at you, a shadow of hunger in his lilac eyes, offering you his hand. You take it, biting your lip as his gaze continues to rake over your body in the sort of way that makes you squirm.

"Thank you, Nadia." You say breathlessly, and a little sheepishly.

Nadia smiles, "anytime." She says, laughter still ringing in her voice. "Now go, before Asra here makes love to you on this table."

Your eyes open wide, shocked to hear her say such dirty words before ducking your head down in embarrassment.

Asra rests his hand on your shoulder and leans down to whisper in your ear, "you heard the lady." His voice is sultry and thick with want. "The table is looking awfully inviting right now."

Quickly, you turn and head out the door, Asra following close behind. The bath is not far down the hall and the two of you make great time. Asra's hand is at your waist, pressing in such a way that you know means desire. You hadn't realized how badly he had been missing you.

You make it to the door and turn to look back at your lover. You gulp at the hot scene behind you. Asra's eyes are half-lidded, purple irises cloudy with lust. His shirt is already half unbuttoned, revealing his delicious golden tan skin, smooth and beautiful. He's looking at you in a way that makes you think he hasn't eaten in a week and you are a five course meal.

He closes in, pushing you against the door and reaching for the handle. "You're terribly slow," he says, voice already rough, desire prominent. He pushes the handle and the latch clicks, the door swings in behind you.

The two of you tumble into the sweet smelling room. Obviously Nadia informed a servant ahead of time of the use of this room because the bath was already filled and steaming. On top of the water pink rose petals float, filling the area with a soft floral scent.

Asra closes the door with a soft click and looks over his shoulder at you. "Oh my dear," he murmurs, taking the couple strides to wrap you up in his strong arms. "I've missed hearing you cry my name, kissing those lips, and feeling your skin." His fingers travel up your waist and over your stomach. They linger, just a moment at the swell under your breast before finally cupping your face in his hands.

You tremble under his touch, body suddenly aching with need. You bring your own hands up to his chest and splay your fingers out so you can feel his heart beating. It's fast and erratic, excited to be close to you.

"Sweetheart," Asra whispers, voice heady. It's intoxicating to hear him talk to you in such a way. You look up at him and catch him licking his lips. You bring your own up to meet his, tongue out to capture his. He groans, melting into the kiss, gripping your hair so tightly it's almost painful.

You gasp, mouth opening and he runs his tongue along your lips, tasting the wine you both had shared. "Delicious," he says against your skin, tasting more and more. His hot open mouth kisses travel from your lips to your cheek, jaw, and finally resting on your neck. Asra loves to leave marks, and he takes your skin between his teeth intending to do exactly that.

Your moan comes out hoarse and you feel heat starting to pool between your legs. They feel shaky and weak, unable to withstand such torment.

Asra steadies you and pulls back briefly, cheeks flushed hot, want written all over his face. "We," he states, "are wearing far too many clothes for a bath."

You laugh and take his shirt in your hands. "I agree," you say, pulling at the remaining buttons. They come free easily and soon a glorious, shirtless Asra is standing before you. You drink in the sight unashamedly, totally enthralled with your lover. Gradually, though slowed by each other's groping hands, you both end up undressed.

Asra grabs your thighs and hoists you up onto his hips. You wrap your arms around his neck and press your breasts into his soft skin. He groans appreciatively, nuzzling his face into your chest breathing deeply, and walks the two of you over to the edge of the bath.

The water is still very warm as it licks your skin. You jump in surprise and moan slightly as it overtakes your aching folds and up over your ass. "Ahh-" you sigh, slumping into the crook of Asra's neck. "This is so good."

Asra hums his agreement before taking your chin between his fingers and directing you too look at him. His eyes are swimming with love, need, and an absolute desire to ravish you. You swallow hard, unable to look away.

"I want you." He says simply, barely above a whisper. He maneuvers your body so your back is against his chest. You lean your head back into him and relax in the fragrant water. Asra snakes his left arm around your waist and trails his fingers from your belly button downwards.

You bite back a squeal as his trained fingers circle the small nub at the top of your slit. He adds pressure, rubbing you in a manner that makes you crazy. Your hips wiggle back and you feel him, hard and straining, pressing into your ass. His breath hitches only for a second before he leans down to pepper soft kisses on your neck and shoulders.

His other hand makes it’s way up to your right breast and he expertly rolls your perked nipples between two fingers. Your whole body shudders in response to his actions.

“Ah, fuck Asra,” you choke out, moving your hips to meet his fingers as he slides them down your slick towards your now dripping hole. He wastes no time plunging two in, enjoying the feeling of your walls tightening around him.

Asra lifts his lips from your skin and brings his mouth to your ear. “You’re so ready for me, aren’t you. Pretty and wet for my fingers, aching to be filled.” He curls them as he says that, relishing in the soft gasps that fall from your trembling lips.

You groan as he licks the shell of your ear, hot breath teasing on the sensitive skin. “You,” your voice falters a second as Asra’s fingers continue to explore your insides in a way that makes you grip his strong thighs on either side of you. “You are ready for me too.” You finally gasp out, finding the strength to grind back against Asra’s swollen cock. You knew if you could see it, it would be an angry red and leaking precum, desperate to be buried to the hilt inside of you.

Asra’s breath comes out in a short gasp that makes you smirk in satisfaction. At least you still have a little control left. That thought flies out your brain a second later when Asra pinches your nipple hard then twists, making you cry out in painful pleasure.

“Watch yourself, my love.” He coos playfully, no remorse in his words. You grit your teeth, taking in the torture that both of his skilled hands are laying upon you. You know what he wants, and it is oh so tempting to give in. You’re almost at war with yourself as your back arches on its own accord in rapt pleasure.

“Oh please, please.” You finally break, body shaking. You reach your arms back and thread your fingers through Asra’s fluffy locks before gripping hard. “Asra please fuck me already.” You plead, unable to care anymore that you were begging.

You feel Asra’s fingers slow to a stop inside you and then remove themselves. You almost groan in disappointment but you know better.

Asra flips your body around so you’re straddling his hips. You gasp when suddenly you’re faced to face with your beautiful lover. He looks positively stunning, the soft moonlight coming in from the high windows bathing him in a pearlescent light. His skin is glowing with a cool sheen, and his breath is leaving parted lips shallowly. Not to mention, his hard cock straining against your stomach, just begging for attention.

You bring your hand down and rest your index finger lightly on the slit. Asra shudders at the touch, but certainly not complaining. He’s slick, just as you expected, and you lightly circle his tip.

“You go on and on about how ready I am.” You tease, “but look at you, practically cumming into my hand already.” You lift your fingers and bring them to your mouth, tasting his salty sweetness. Asra’s diet is rich with fruit and vitamins, and oh how you loved how he tasted as a result.

Watching you lick your fingers coyly has Asra’s eyes drooping with lust. “My dear, oh my love,” he whispers. “How I am going to fuck you until I fill you with that cum you love so much. Because it’s true, you love it don’t you.” He says, voice sugar sweet, expecting an answer.

You blush, despite your best efforts. You look at him, but he only blinks in return, waiting.

“Yes,” you whisper, voice thicker with need than you realized. You give up trying to be bashful. “Yes, yes. I love your cum, how it tastes, how it feels when you fill me up. I want it so bad.” You beg, looping your arms around his neck so your lips are just inches apart. “You have my heart, soul, and body.” The words tumble out naturally, “and gods, do I need you now.”

Asra bites your bottom lip harshly before fully overtaking your mouth with his. He’s moaning, almost desperately, into you. “I love you, my dearest one.” He pants, gripping your ass with his hands. You feel your hips being lifted up and your body quakes knowing what’s coming.

You feel the tip of Asra on the heat of your slit and you sigh deeply, “I love you too, Asra.” You say, bending your neck so your head rests on his muscular shoulder. Your lips find a sweet spot on his neck, an anchor, as he lowers you down onto him. It’s tantalizingly slow, allowing you to feel every inch as you sink lower in the water until he’s fully sheathed in you.

“Oh gods,” Asra groans, both from feeling you pulse around him and from your playful lips on his neck. “You are a gift to me.” He says, breathless from the feelings.

You smile, in delight from your lovers sweet words. Slowly and carefully you lift your hips up, at the same time dragging your tongue up his smooth neck to his ear. You suck and nibble on the lobe as you find your rhythm, bouncing steadily on the thick shaft. He feels absolutely amazing in you, filling you perfectly.

Asra grips your butt underwater with his strong hands and leans his head to the side, giving you better access. He guides your hips to a steady pace, humming appreciatively when you comply. “It has been far too long since I’ve felt your sweet pussy squeezing me like this.” He says, without skipping a beat.

You don’t have time to blush before he picks up the pace, leaving you moaning loudly into his ear as he hits the spot that makes you crazy. “Ah fuck, I agree, I do agree.” You manage, finally finding the words.

The water sloshes around your two bodies, stirring the rosy scent into the air. It’s smells amazing and makes you dizzy with pleasure as every sense seems to be met. Asra huffs gently next to your ear, holding you tightly against his body.

You savor the feelings of your chests sliding against each other, the feeling sleek from the warm water and sweat mixing. Your hips meet his, snapping against each other with quick splashes, making you see stars as he hits every time the spot that has you go wild.

The muscles in your lower stomach tighten and you know it’s only a matter of time before you’re screaming Asra’s name for the whole palace to hear. “Baby,” you say breathlessly, kissing any skin you can reach. His cheek, the corner of his eye, his plump lips. “I’m going to cum.” You whisper into his mouth. He swallows your delicious words and licks your lips in response.

“I love when you do that,” he says, a slight chuckle in his words. He wraps his arms tightly around your middles before bringing his hands up to your shoulder blades and raking his nails down your spine. You shudder at the erotic feeling and arch your back against his hands. He sighs happily when you give him access to this gorgeous view, stretched out before him, stomach and tits shining gloriously in front of him. He puts his mouth on your bellybutton and licks up to the cavity between your breasts.

“Oh mmm,” he hums, pleased with the sweet taste of your skin. “You are a delicacy amongst gods.”

You flush looking down at his lustful face, sucking on your skin, leaving marks where only he will see. He latches on to one of your nipples, moaning in immense pleasure at the feel of it in his mouth. When he nips at the sensitive skin you jolt, a small disruption in the steady bounce of your bodies.

“Damn,” you curse, words choking in your throat. Your nails dig into Asra’s shoulders as he re-establishes the torturing rhythm that has you shaking desperately against him.

“Let go for me,” he suggests in a sultry whisper that has you reeling with a feverish desire. The pressure in your core is building at an alarming rate as Asra thrusts into you, filling you every time to the point where you can barely hang on.

“I-“ you falter, eyes rolling as you feel that familiar tingle across all your limbs. Oh gods, you can’t stop it now. “Asra, oh fuck, ASRA-!” You scream head thrown back. Your walls clench, and the knot comes undone. It’s amazing, you almost want to laugh in pleasure at the feeling of coming around Asra’s cock. It’s so good you almost forget to breath.

Asra curses under his own breath as he fucks you through your high, barely holding on himself. You bring your head back down and kiss him deeply, tongue joining his. It’s a short lived battle to hang on and in a flurry of short gasps you feel him cumming inside you, unable to stop himself from the uncontrollable waves of pleasure that come from your hot walls clenching around him.

You both continue to kiss each other lovingly, slowing down gradually until you’re sitting on his lap. Eventually, you pull away a couple of inches, looking into your beloved’s eyes.

“Hello,” you say, smiling at your favorite magician. Asra’s eyes crinkle as he smiles, looking at you through hazy eyes. He kisses you again, gently, pleasantly.

“Hello,” he returns, after a minute. He runs his hands up your back, massaging as he goes. “You,” he adds lovingly, “are so beautiful.”

You smile adoringly. “Thank you, Asra.” You remove yourself from his lap and wade through the water towards the collection of bottles on the wooden shelf nearby. You grab a few that you felt suited the two of you best and turned to your lover. Asra had lifted his arms to rest on the sides of the bath and was looking at you with admiration.

“May I wash your hair?” You ask setting down the bottles, but keeping a lilac scented shampoo for Asra. He smiled at you, his face soft and kind.

“That would be amazing, my love.” He said, leaning his head back into the water to dampen it. You squeezed some of the lovely smelling shampoo into your hand and waited. Asra emerged a moment later and kissed you adoringly on the nose.

“Thank you,” he breathed. “For always taking care of me.”

You kissed him back, a peck, before turning him so his back was facing you. You rub your hands into a lather before working them into Asra’s soft hair.

“I always will, forever.” You say softly, happier than ever.

#asra alnazar #asra x reader #the arcana #arcana smut #asra smut #asra lemon #lemons #asra is so hot #I love him #lys writes

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tigerkirby215 · 3 years ago

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5e Nadia Fortune, the Purrfect Treasure build (Skullgirls)

(Artwork from the Skullgirls Wiki.)

And dus continues my attempts to get this Tumblr account for showing too much T&A.

This is my wildcard build for Spooky Month. Which is to say: I had no idea what the hell else to build. Miss Fortune was always a weird character to build conceptually because how do you create a character who has no head? But truth be told with the exception of puppet mechanic Nadia doesn’t really do much beyond punch and kick. I think I’ve got a good recreation of her core gimmick, and the rest of this build is pretty alright as well! Although I will warn you it’s probably not what you’re expecting.

...Wait shit puns! Uhhh don’t get hissterical if this build isn’t what you expect! I’m feline pawsitive that you’ll still find this build good against any furmidable opponent! You really need to give meow a break here!

GOALS

Heads up! - So no head? Well you unfortunately have to keep your head attached in D&D, but we’ll still have a reliable summon to zoom around in the background to strike our foes.

Curiosity can't kill me - Immortality is a pretty big thing to strive for... Kinda amusing that it’s probably one of the easiest things to achieve in this build.

Tail n' nails! - You’re a fighting game character, which does mean punches and kicks are rather mandatory.

RACE

I mean what race do you want me to give to the literal immortal? Kenku? You are a Reborn from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, though your Ancestral Legacy can be Tabaxi in your old life for the sake a climbing speed as well as proficiency in Stealth and Perception. You get +2/+1 in two ability scores of your choice: put the +2 in Constitution for reasons and the +1 in Strength. And you can learn one language of your choice along with Common: feel like Yu-Wan and Minette would probably speak Abyssal?

Immortality has its perks: your Deathless Nature grants

advantage on saving throws against disease and being poisoned

resistance to poison damage

advantage on death saving throws

no need to eat, drink, or breathe (but you can still enjoy tasty food I’m sure!)

no need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep

And you can finish a long rest in 4 hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness. (It’s really scary to any would-be robbers to see a corpse standing in the middle of the room... especially if it starts to move!)

And finally Knowledge from a Past Life will allow the Life Gem to infuse you with strength! When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you can roll a d6 immediately after seeing the number on the d20 and add the number on the d6 to the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

You are more than welcome just to play a plain old Tabaxi instead of a Reborn, as Feline Agility is quite useful and Reborn is kinda... bad?

ABILITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - I’d like to be Dexterity based... unfortunately you can’t be a Monk if you can’t keep a level head.

14; CHARISMA - You’ve got a wonderful purrsonality and enough puns to get through any tough nut.

13; CONSTITUTION - Being literally immortal has its perks.

12; DEXTERITY - I unfortunately can’t justify Dexterity for your attacks but I can at least invest a bit in AC.

10; WISDOM - You outsmart your foes with wit as well as raw strength, but the raw strength does most of the work let’s be fair

8; INTELLIGENCE - You lived your whole life on the streets without a proper education.

BACKGROUND

You would be a Criminal... but that requires friends, and all your friends are dead. Guess that just leaves you as an Urchin then. You get proficiency with Slight of Hand as well as Thieves Tools and a Disguise Kit (which I mention because you’re not going to be getting them elsewhere, and they might be useful if you want to play a Little Innsmouth-knockoff Rogue.) You already get Stealth from your (former) race however so take Persuasion instead, because it’s good to play nice and everyone loves a purrsuasive face.

Your background feature City Secrets will make chasing the Skullgirl or any other sourpuss easy: When you are not in combat, you (and your companions) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow. Life as a street cat has its purrks!

(Artwork by TheYuriReviewer on DeviantArt. Man I forgot how much fun it is to search up Skullgirls fanart on DA...)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - BARBARIAN 1

Here’s a shocker eh? Well it’ll make sense in 2 levels but for a start we need to talk about proficiencies: grab Athletics (duh) and Survival (you’re particularly good at that.)

As a Barbarian you get Unarmored Defense equal to your Dexterity plus your Constitution which is good because your CON is good and your DEX isn’t. You also get Rage, or as I like to call it: “being literally immortal.” You have advantage on Strength-based checks, deal extra damage when you hit with Strength, and have resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage (which is kinda the main thing.) You do have to either hit your enemies or get hit to keep this up but in the middle of a heated fight you should be able to come out on top.

Now’s probably a good time to mention how you’re going to use “claws”: if your DM is nice they might let you keep your Unarmed Strike damage as a former Tabaxi (no reason not to) but for the most part unarmed fighting is kinda... bad. So I suggest reflavoring other forms of damage as claw attacks! Just because your character sheet says “Greataxe” doesn’t mean it’s actually a greataxe! Nadia does canonically have a sword (tail) if you must justify the weapon, but we’ll have more justifiable weapons later in the build.

LEVEL 2 - BARBARIAN 2

Second level Barbarians don’t need to worry much about being killed, what with being immortal and all. So why not make a Reckless Attack to give yourself advantage for the low low price of giving the enemy advantage to hit you?

If playing crazy isn’t up your alley then Danger Sense will help you keep yourself at least somewhat safe, giving you advantage on Dexterity saving throws as long as you can see the attack coming. It’s far easier to block projectiles if your opponent is being obvious about it.

LEVEL 3 - BARBARIAN 3

Third level Barbarians get to choose their Primal Path and man we’re 3 levels in and we aren’t literally immortal yet... Oh hey Path of the Zealot. Warrior of the Gods makes you literally immortal as long as someone’s willing to pick you up, as revival spells are literally free to cast on you. See? Told you immortality is the easy part.

You can also gives your combos a little more cattitude thanks to Divine Fury. While raging the first attack you make that hits will do an extra d6 plus half your Barbarian level in either Radiant or Necrotic damage: you can pick which damage type it does now and while Necrotic is admittedly more flavorful Radiant is generally resisted by less creatures, so it’s up to your preference really.

Oh and this weird lady named Tasha down at the intersection of Feywild and Shadowfell thought that Barbarians didn’t have enough skill proficiencies, so they gave out free Primal Knowledge for those who want it (and DMs who allow it.) Extra proficiencies never hurt nobody so take Intimidation to let people know that you will hurt somebody!

LEVEL 4 - BARBARIAN 4

Ah the first of many Ability Score Improvements. Hitting hard should probably be the main goal, and more Strength will let you hit harder.

LEVEL 5 - BARBARIAN 5

5th level Barbarians can scratch with both claws. Extra Attack lets you attack twice; plain and simple! But what’s cool is that as a Barbarian you also get Fast Movement, for 10 extra feet of movement speed. So along with being able to fight better you can also go zoomies around the battlefield!

(Artwork by Razillon on DeviantArt.)

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 1

The biggest pun on this blog is my insistence on adding Warlock levels to every build I make. You can choose your Patron at level 1 as a Warlock and you probably think that I’m going to be going for the Undead or Undying since you’re literally immortal and all that... Nah fuck that we’re going for the Fathomless for all the fun Little Innsmouth can provide!

Don’t lose your head over my choice of Patron: that’s what Tentacle of the Deeps is for! You can summon a tentacle to fight for you but if your DM is cool they’ll let you reflavor it as your severed head! You can command it as a Bonus Action to move around and attack people, dealing a d8 cold damage and slowing whoever it hits by 10 feet.

You can only keep it around for a minute, your old “head” disappears if you use this ability to put it somewhere else, and you can throw it out a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. Oh and you get Gift of the Sea for a 40 foot swimming speed and the ability to breathe underwater (not that you need to breathe anyways.) Who says cats can’t swim?

But of course the main appeal of being a Warlock is the Pact Magic, which sure is weird because you sure can’t cast spells while Raging. But at least you can grab some backup tools like Chill Touch to give your enemies a hand if they won’t get close for you to swing at them, and Friends if you need a bit of a boost while talking to folk you don’t mind annoying with your puns afterwards. You can also learn two 1st-level spells like Thunderwave from the Fathomless list which I’m personally flavoring as your Level 3 Blockbuster (yeah it’s always kinda weird when you get ultimate abilities before basic ones), and Distort Value! Because you’re still a criminal, and a little con-job won’t hurt anyone.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get to choose their Eldritch Invocations and what’s fun about this build is that since we aren’t going to be focusing too much on casting you can grab a lot more utility options! Eldritch Sight, Eyes of the Rune Keeper, Fiendish Vigor, Mask of Many Faces... hell even Beast Speech can be useful. Pick whatever you fancy as it’s quite pawsible to fill whatever role your party may need with your Invocations. Just keep your second invocation open for a surprise tool that will help us later.

You can also pick up another spell but... eh. Not much I really want at this level. So wait for a bit to grab stuff from level 3 of Warlock.

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 3

Level 3 Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and what’s cool about claws is that you always have a weapon on-hand... Well with Pact of the Blade you can always have a weapon on-hand! You can summon any weapon you want to your fingertips as an action and change them around as you see fit! I actually really like Pact of the Blade for Miss Fortune since you can summon various weapons to mimic Miss Fortune’s half-dead fighting style and adapt to various situations. Give yourself a weapon with Reach if you need to streeetch your limbs, grab a thrown weapon if you need to toss your head into the ring, and really lean into your options with this Pact Boon. Especially since the Improved Pact Weapon invocation will upgrade all your weapons into a +1 for free!

If you’ve already gotten a magic weapon you’re keen on using by this point feel free to use any of the other invocations I listed previously.

You can also now learn second level spells and I’d recommend Shatter for a ranged Fifth of Dismember, and Mirror Image for some better dodging. When you’re falling into pieces it’s almost like there’s three of you!

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement and you’ve probably noticed the uneven Constitution score by now. I normally wouldn’t recommend the Durable feat (because it’s kinda shit) but you’re going to be taking a lot of damage with your fairly low AC, so bumping up your health and also giving yourself some insurance on hit die is appreciated.

You can also learn another spell but there isn’t much I want from the second level Warlock pickings anymore. You can grab another cantrip though, so grab Minor Illusion to throw more than just your voice!

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks can pick up another Eldritch Invocation and you know those spell slots we aren’t using while Raging? Wouldn’t it be great if we could just use them to whack our foes on the head? Well Eldritch Smite will let you do exactly that! Do big Force damage and knock foes prone to let the whole gang wail on them!

You can also grab some third level spells like Tongues to let the localization team do their magic, and Thunder Step. Yeah it’s Fifth of Dismember again that ability is basically the only proper “magic” you have, although a teleport in your back pocket never hurt. Just know that you aren’t exactly going to be stealthy with this spell.

(Artwork by JTemby on DeviantArt.)

LEVEL 11 - BARBARIAN 6

Back to Barbarian land now that we’ve got the life gem all sorted out. 6th level Zealot Barbarians get Fanatical Focus: once per Rage if you fail a saving throw you can reroll it. Advantage once per Rage, although you’ll have to use the new roll so be wary of Natural 1s I guess. Sucks to be Miss Fortunate.

LEVEL 12 - BARBARIAN 7

7th level Barbarians can pretend that their Dexterity is good thanks to Feral Instinct, which gives you free advantage on Initiative. Additionally if you’re surprised you can choose to lash out, getting to act while surprised as long as you Rage first.

Also that lady Tasha thought that you weren’t catlike enough, so she gave you Instinctive Pounce to move half your speed when you start your Rage! “Kitt n' spin!”

LEVEL 13 - BARBARIAN 8

8th level Barbarians can grab another Ability Score Improvement and I mean... Strength kinda still dictates most of what you do? Capping it off means you’ll be hitting as hard and as often as you can... Kitt-an... Look puns are hard.

(Artwork by DumplingDash on DeviantArt.)

LEVEL 14 - BARBARIAN 9

If you’ve been attacking Recklessly chances are you’re used to critting by now. Well Brutal Critical means you can triple your damage die instead of just doubling them. Add an Eldritch Smite and you can really lay down the hurt! “All in the wrist!”

LEVEL 15 - BARBARIAN 10

10th level Zealot Barbarians make for a good team assist thanks to Zealous Presence. You can give up to 10 allies within 60 feet advantage on their attack rolls and saving throws until the start of your next round as a Bonus Action. You can only use this once per Long Rest but it’s a radiclaw tool to have in case of a jam.

Oh and good ol’ Tasha still thinks Barbarians don’t get enough proficiencies, so take Animal Handling from Primal Knowledge because what else are you going to take? Nature?

LEVEL 16 - BARBARIAN 11

11th level Barbarians get to not die some more thanks to Relentless Rage. If you drop to 0 hit points while raging (and don’t die outright) you can make a DC 10 CON save to drop to 1 HP instead. The DC does go up by 5 every time you use it but thankfully it also resets back to 10 when you finish a short or long rest. Now you do admittedly have around 150 HP by this point so death isn’t likely but I’m not going to say no to insurance.

LEVEL 17 - BARBARIAN 12

12th level Barbarians get another Ability Score Improvement and here’s where you can make a choice: more Constitution means more health and AC but more Charisma means your Warlock tools (notably your head) are more likely to hit. (And better roleplay, obviously.) If you’ve got a cool DM who’ll just pass you a Belt of Giant’s Strength for Charisma then this decision no longer becomes a decision, but I’ll tell you know that this is the last Ability Score Increase you’ll be getting so choose wisely.

I mean, you could just take Lucky too if you want, and be a little more fortunate.

(Artwork by See-Breeze on DeviantArt.)

LEVEL 18 - BARBARIAN 13

13th level Barbarians get even more damage! Brutal Critical now multiplies to 3 dice, meaning that you’re rolling 4 total weapon die on top of doubling your Eldritch Smite damage! “Fur-serker Purr-age!“

LEVEL 19 - BARBARIAN 14

If you haven’t gotten it by now Zealot Barbarian has this whole theme about not dying, and the 14th level subclass capstone finishes this off by letting you Rage beyond Death. If you’re raging and hit 0 HP, you don’t die! You can keep fighting even while making death saves, and even if you die you still get to keep swinging. You will pass out if your rage ends but as long as you’ve got your claws you can keep fighting!

LEVEL 20 - BARBARIAN 15

And to finish off the build 15th level Barbarians get Persistent Rage, so you can’t lose rage if you fail to damage someone or get damaged. Is it a bit late to get such a simplistic ability? Yeah probably, but it means even after the fight you can stick around to do some stand-up!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Time to pull myself together - You’re literally immortal; that’s a plus. A ridiculously large health bar is already good enough but being able to resist dying and fight after death is a great boon, and letting the Cleric revive you for free is a great added bonus!

Claws encounter of the furred kind! - You’ve also got great damage at any range. Up close you’ve got all the rage of a thousand angry cats and your Warlock tools make you potent at long range too! Not to mention a few spells up your sleeve in case of an emergency.

You two seem thick as thieves - It’s not often that I comment on background features (because they’re usually not overly impactful) but it turns out grabbing Thieves’ Tools and Stealth proficiency goes a long way to make you a great make-shift Rogue. A few magic tools never hurt (although I would recommend not casting Thunder Step in a stealth mission) and both Tongues and Distort Value can be great fun for roleplay to use that Charisma of yours!

CONS

Cat nap time! - Despite mixing two classes that are meant to be good with just Short Rests you have a lot of Long Rest resources that will dry up if you use them too sparingly.

I can't watch! - You’re Charisma isn’t great which means your Warlock abilities won’t be hitting often. Bonus action attacks are always nice to have (especially at range) but there comes a point where it isn’t worth losing your head over.

Not amewsing - Low Dexterity and low Constitution also means low AC, and while being a Barbarian with Durable means that you can take a lot of hits and recover a lot after the fight it does suck to spend most of the fight recovering red health.

But you'll be able to keep it together as long as you don't play like you have nine lives, even if you have a lot more in reality. Be your new family's big sister and make sure that you're the one sleeping with the fishes instead of them. Everyone loves a good party head, and the best kind of head is one that can be everywhere at once!

(Artwork by KukuruyoArt on DeviantArt.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #skullgirls #skullgirls miss fortune #skullgirls ms fortune #skullgirls nadia fortune #dnd barbarian #zombie #cat #girl

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the-iron-orchid · 3 years ago

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BOOK II: THE HIGH PRIESTESS

Chapter 2: The Palace (~2380 words)

Warnings: mild innuendo

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I climb the steps that lead out of the market area, where I spy a fortune-teller’s booth nestled in a shaded corner, well out of the summer sun. It instantly brings me back to the days when Asra would go out and set up such a thing himself, before we set up the back room (once used for storage) instead. He was the one who dressed it all up with tasseled scarves and lengths of colorful fabric, carefully painting golden stars on the heavy curtain he acquired from only the Arcana know where.

A wave of sudden dizziness comes over me, my vision swimming. Something plays itself out inside my head, as if upon a stage of my mind’s eye.

Asra sits on his heels, the way I’ve seen him do so many times… but his hair is longer, his face just a fraction rounder. He looks up at me with a mischievous little curl of his lip. “Would you like a love reading? They’re very popular.”

My own voice is in my ears… but it is different. There is a slight but distinct Prakran accent, and the words are delivered in a teasing tone. “Oh? Do I seem like someone who needs a love reading?”

“You’ve got me there.” Asra grins before lowering his eyes in a way that is almost coquettish. “Did you enjoy the Masquerade? I did. Very much.” This last is delivered in a soft, husky tone that I have never heard from him before.

Or have I?

I hear myself give a low chuckle, and I see my own hand, decorated with henna and ringed in silver, as it reaches out to very gently lift his chin. He gives me a certain look from under his pale eyelashes, one that is unmistakable even to one of my nonexistent experience. (That I know of.) “Oh, yes. It was very diverting.”

What?

Blinking in the sunlight, reality returns around me, leaving me momentarily disoriented. What on earth was that? A vision? A dream? A fantasy? A memory? A sharp pain lances through my skull, and I hiss in my breath.

And then a sudden collision sends me stumbling forward. I barely manage to keep from losing my footing on the steps, and the stranger who has collided with me loses hold of the basket balanced on their hip, sending pomegranates rolling everywhere.

“Ohhhhh, great! Like I’m not already running behind…” comes their dismayed voice.

As I regain myself, shaking my head experimentally, I realize that the dizziness and the pain have gone, as suddenly as they came.

I crouch down to help them gather the scattered fruit, murmuring an apology for mooning about like that. The stranger assures me that it was their fault for not looking where they were going, too busy juggling their own errands.

I spot the final pomegranate directly in the path of a cart-horse, and with a thought I send my mage hand out to safely retrieve it. This seems to delight the red-headed stranger, their blue eyes sparkling. They thank me once more, apologizing again for bumping into me. At least the pomegranates have largely survived the ordeal intact.

The stranger extends a hand to me, and I take it. Their palm is rough and calloused against mine, the hand of one who works very hard with them.

“Probably shouldn’t do this, but…” A shiny pomegranate is offered to me. The fruits are splendid, large and ruby-red in color, the size of my two fists held together. This time of year, they must be imported or grown with the assistance of magic - definitely costly. When I accept, the stranger smiles warmly at me.

But just as they are about to take their leave, they seem to notice something - eyes first narrowing, then going wide as they peer at me more closely. “Wait, wait, wait! I know you!”

I can only blink at them, finding that I am at a disadvantage. Is this someone from my past, forgotten? Panic blossoms in my chest, but I try to let it slip aside, visualize it draining away. Such strong feelings can lead to my magic manifesting, or to the severe headaches that once plagued me regularly. Neither is desirable.

“You’re the magician! Jinana, right? Countess Nadia said we were expecting you.” Before I can wonder about this we, they continue. “It’s the hair, you see. Kind of gives you away. And, you know, the magic.” She grins. “You can call me Portia. I’m milady’s head servant at the Palace.”

My body relaxes, my heart slowing itself back down. The name of ‘Portia’ is vaguely familiar to me, possibly overheard via Marketplace gossip. (It is, after all, the one thing traded more than coin.) And of course, these fine pomegranates were no doubt grown especially for the Palace.

Portia informs me that this was a lucky meeting, as she knows the quickest way to get there. It’s well that she does, as even with her guidance it’s a long walk. Along the way, I open the pomegranate - with the use of my magic, it splits itself open in my hand like a flower, the sections falling neatly apart to be shared. This little trick utterly captivates Portia, who asks if I can teach her any of my magical tricks - if that’s even possible.

“It’s like anything else,” I tell her. “Some of us are born with natural talent… but almost anyone can perform some magic, with the right training.” Her eyes glimmer with mischievous glee.

“Ooh, then I’m going to have to make the time to learn!” she says. “Do you think I could learn to read the cards, too?”

“Divination does depend a little more on natural talent. But it’s not impossible.”

“Hmmm, maybe I’ll leave that one to the experts, then.” It doesn’t seem to put her out at all.

Portia is effervescently cheerful, and her company makes the trip go by much faster than it might have had I been alone. She is so easy to talk to, about everything from what it’s like to run a magic shop, to which sort of bugs indicate a healthy garden. By the time the Palace gates come into view, I feel like I’ve made a friend.

My legs, however, feel like they’re about to fall off - as I have said, I rarely leave the Center City area, and never farther than the Heart District, where Heron’s shop is. The elevation rises sharply from the Center City to where the Palace stands, overlooking it all. But Portia seems to have as much energy as ever; no doubt she makes this trek regularly. Her sturdy frame speaks of strength and health - next to her, I feel a bit like that seedling on my rooftop, struggling weakly in its mug of dirt under the sun.

Noticing that I am lagging behind, she pauses for a brief rest. We sit upon a low wall along the street, its bricks quite warm from the day’s sun. There is very little foot traffic up here, compared to the city below. Once in a while, a carriage rolls by on the smoothly-paved road.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Jinana,” Portia tells me, her demeanor becoming more serious. “Milady… well. Let’s just say that she could use some more... reliable help.” Her glance flicks toward the Palace with a seeming annoyance, then her face brightens once more with a smile. “Anyway, you seem like a good sort to me, you know? And my intuition is never wrong.” She winks at me.

I find that I don’t have much to say to that, but she looks at me expectantly.

“I, uh… well, I’m not sure how much use a fortune-teller and apprentice magician is in the scheme of things,” I laugh. “But… I’ll do my best. I promise.”

“Well, you know how Vesuvian politics are.” I do not, but I nod noncommittally. “Milady can always use more allies. Not everyone is keen on a Prakran princess being the ruler of Vesuvia.”

There’s an obvious care in her voice and face when she speaks of the Countess, and I wonder at it. But Portia rises, dusting off her backside, and I follow suit, our little rest break over.

The sun is just lowering in the sky as we finally approach the Palace’s tall gate of wrought iron. The Palace itself is a thing of many delicate spires, glittering and shining under the late golden sunlight like a mirage. The gate is guarded, of course, but Portia is my key. She introduces me to the guards - Ludovico and Bludmila. There is little to differentiate them in their armor. Even their faces are largely covered by their decorated helms - only the shape and color of their eyes, shadowed beneath, can be seen. But their posture is visibly relaxed with Portia, and they push the heavy gate open for us, allowing us to breeze through.

Beyond the gate there is a long bridge, rising at a steep angle over the palace’s moat. Pale, elongated shapes swirl in the dark water beneath, like the ghosts of serpents. I shiver slightly, despite the remaining warmth of the day.

“The late Count had those put there,” Portia says, mild disgust crossing her features as she notes the direction of my gaze. “Vampire eels. Kind of gross, but not a problem so long as you don’t fall in the water.”

“I’ll try not to.” I spare the eels one last glance before quickening my pace to catch up with Portia - she doesn’t want to keep the Countess waiting, and neither do I.

Questions rise in my hindbrain as we walk, stirring my latent anxieties now that I am here, and there is no turning back. Have I made the right decision in coming here? Could I have possibly done anything else? Will Asra know where to find me when he returns? (Of course he will.) What will happen to me if I cannot provide the help the Countess seeks? Her very word is law in this city, and being a magician will do me no good against it.

Before I know it, we’re at the Palace’s main entrance. Portia gives three strong knocks that seem to reverberate through my very bones. After a moment, some mechanism on the inside causes the doors to swing themselves wide in a ponderous arc. Within, I glimpse halls of polished marble and dark granite, unspeakably rich furnishings, and liveried servants going to and fro on their business.

There is definitely no turning back now.

A person in servant’s livery topped with a cap bearing a bright blue feather rushes up to us. They stop short when they notice me, sweeping into a deep bow (somehow the cap does not dislodge from their head). They then immediately rush on to Portia.

“Chamberlain,” she says with a nod, probably for my benefit, and asks how we are doing on time.

Her shoulders relax fractionally as the Chamberlain answers that we are just in time - the first course is about to be served, and the Countess has yet to come down. This is apparently slightly late for her, but working to our benefit.

Clearly relieved, Portia hands off her load to the chamberlain, adding that they should inform the kitchens that the Countess’s guest is here. The chamberlain vanishes into a wall panel, which slides invisibly shut behind them.

Portia must be favored, indeed, for the Palace chamberlain to defer to her so.

“That was close!” she confides. “I’ll take you straight to the dining room.”

“Dining room? I’m to dine with the Countess? Right now?” I did not expect this, and am certainly not dressed for it. Self-consciously, I tuck my escaping hair behind my ears.

Portia laughs. “Don’t tell me you thought we wouldn’t feed you!”

“That’s not it at all…” I answer, but she is already striding away down the hall, and I must hurry to keep up. Along the way, I surreptitiously freshen away the sweat and road dust with my magic. There isn’t much I can do for the plainness of my clothing. The only jewelry I wear is the copper ring on my right thumb (a spell focus), two simple necklaces (one gifted by Heron, the other by Asra), and now the little protection pouch, nestled under my top. Hardly suitable for dinner with the Countess… but it seems I must make do. I pull my shawl from inside my bag, and drape it over my shoulders. Perhaps it will help conceal some of the sins of my appearance.

Portia pushes open a double door of carved mahogany. The doors, exquisitely balanced, swing open easily and silently, despite their size and weight. Beyond, the long dining table is laden with platters of all manner of fine foods, and the smell alone causes my stomach to clench almost painfully with hunger. I’ve had so little today, and walked so much. But as Portia seats me in a fine chair with brocaded cushions, I see that the Countess has not yet arrived.

“How many people are supposed to be here?” I ask her. There is enough food for twenty or more on this table.

“Oh, it’s just you and the Countess! You’ll do fine,” she assures me. “I have to get back to work, but you’ll see me again!” She pats me on the shoulder reassuringly, then bustles away, back to her duties.

Instead of looking helplessly after Portia as she goes, I force myself to look around the room. More liveried servants are coming and going, bringing even more items to the table.

There is a large painting hanging prominently on the far wall, and the more I look at it, the stranger it gets. Several beast-headed figures are attending what seems to be a feast of small game, olives, bread, and wine. It is presided over by a man in noble finery, surrounded by rays of pure gold - but he has the head of a goat. Something about the nine figures feels familiar to me, but I can’t quite pin it down. It is so odd that I can only stare at it for a few moments… until a voice brings me out of my reverie.

“Ah, Jñāna. I’m so pleased that you’re here.”

The Countess has arrived.

#arcana rewrite: tides of chaos #the arcana rewrite #jinana aditya #chekhov's eels lmao

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corolune · 3 years ago

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Breathing Underwater Chapter Three: Lightning

AO3 / Tumblr Alex had always known he wasn’t like other children. They didn't hear the song of the ocean in their ears, or feel the thrumming rhythm of the waves in their hearts like he did. Then he finds a silvery coat made of seal fur, glistening and calling him to slip it on — and everything he thought he knew about himself washes away like foam on the sea. Alex Rider is a selkie, and this is the story of how a seal becomes a spy. Prologue 〰 Chapter 1: Zephyr 〰 Chapter 2: Nimbus 〰 Chapter 3: Lightning

light·ning — ➀ the flashing of light produced by a discharge of atmospheric electricity; ➁ a sudden stroke of fortune

Only weeks after his fourteenth birthday, Alex woke to a dark sky pierced by a red and blue glow. Everything was still and silent, in that part of the night when everything was asleep. As he blinked his eyes open, he peeked through the soft curtains near his bed, and saw that the flashing lights came from a police car sat in their driveway. As he heard the doorbell ring downstairs, he could feel a sense of unease, the same way he felt when clouds started gathering and he was stuck outside. A sure sign of a storm to come.

Now fully awake, he could hear the soft sound of Jack’s slippers padding down the stairs to the door. Letting the curtain fall back over the window panes, his eyes fell on his fur coat, still on his desk chair from where he’d left it to dry after school. He wasn’t sure what was going on yet, but he didn’t want to leave it lying there if anyone happened to come inside. Shoving aside his sweatshirts and trousers, he pushed it into a hanger in the very back of his closet and slid the door shut.

He heard Jack open the front door with a rattle of the chain, and tiptoed down the stairs to peek into the foyer.

There was a policeman at the door, and Jack’s quiet words floated down the corridor.

“A car accident? But Ian was always so careful…”

Sitting down heavily on the bottom step, the words washed over him, and he felt the first thunders of the storm to come. Just like his parents, his uncle had died in an accident while traveling. Distantly, he found himself wondering if that was what would happen to him, too, dying on his way to somewhere else, a victim of someone else’s carelessness.

As sunlight bled into the sky, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly happened to his uncle. Where had Ian been going so late at night? And how would he, the same man that drove like an eighty year old, forget to put on his seatbelt? The more he thought about it, the more he found things that didn’t add up.

Tom and Jack put it down to shock, but he knew there was something wrong. And like always, he was too curious to let it go.

A few days later, seated in a drab, grey office opposite an equally grey Alan Blunt, Alex was regretting that he’d indulged his curiosity.

“There’s something we’d like you to do for us,” Blunt said.

“My uncle died because of you. What makes you think I’m going to help you?” Alex crossed his arms and glared at him and Mrs. Jones.

Ever since he had woken to that bleak policeman’s doorbell, he had been adrift in the choppy waves of a stormy sea. At first, it had seemed like the storm would soon be over, but now he saw it was only the beginning of many, like the rains of the monsoons.

“You’ve already proven yourself to be quick, resourceful, and most importantly, curious.”

Curiosity killed the cat, Alex thought to himself as they went on to explain about some billionaire called Herod Sayle, and his plan to give away thousands of Stormbreaker computers.

“All you’d need to do is look around and report back to us,” Mrs. Jones said.

“I’m not doing it.”

All of a sudden, Blunt shifted, and when he spoke next, there was none of the forced friendliness from before. For the first time since Alex had walked into the office, he saw the cunning shark that lay beneath the man’s skin.

“Your uncle left the Royal and General Bank in charge of your care. Certainly, Ms. Starbright is no longer needed, especially with her expired visa. I’m sure Mrs. Jones could find a suitable institution that would handle your living and schooling.”

“Are you blackmailing me?” Alex scoffed in disbelief, yet somehow he’d known this was coming. The storm in his life had finally broken, and now he had these people on one hand, ready to pull him out from drowning in the icy waves. If he didn’t do as they said they would push him back into the water.

Mrs. Jones spoke around yet another peppermint. “Alex, if you only helped us with this, we’d be able to let you stay in your home with your housekeeper. Otherwise, there’s just nothing we can do.”

“You haven’t really left me a choice,” muttered Alex, with a resigned sigh. “It’s just to look around, you said?”

〰〰

He’d done much more than just looking around. When Alex crept back into the room he’d been given at the sprawling Sayle mansion, he snatched up the gadgets Smithers had given him. After some thought, he pulled his sealskin out of the bag and slipped it on, too. If things went badly, he didn’t want to leave it behind, and surely it was safer on him. After his night time adventure in the submerged tunnel, he was coming to realize it could be useful in more ways than he had initially thought. He shuddered, thinking of how the cold and dark water would have been much more comfortable and easier to navigate with his warm seal fur and sharper eyes.

Pulling the silver fur closer to himself, he quietly opened the door, only to come face to face with Mr. Grin — and then, with a sudden jerk backwards, his eyes slid shut and he saw only blackness.

When he woke, he was cuffed tightly to a hard metal chair that rested against the vast, glass wall of the aquarium. Left alone in the room, after Sayle and his assistant had left, he had the distinct feeling of being just as trapped as the restless jellyfish that was held captive in the deep tank behind him. The glow of coloured lamps cast the undulating form of the sea creature in flickering shadows onto the tile in front of him.

As he wrestled with the metal cuffs, he heard the click-clack, click-clack of heeled shoes. With a feeling of dread, he looked up to see Sayle’s other assistant, Nadia Vole.

Moments later, that dread turned into panic, as he was thrown into the winding passage and splashed into the cold tank, only metres away from the Portugeuse Man of War.

The salt water burned at his scraped and bruised wrists. The jellyfish drifted languidly while Alex spluttered and slapped at the water, keeping his head afloat in the small pocket of air.

“I hope you can hear me, Alex,” he heard from a speaker somewhere above him. Through the thick glass, he could see Vole’s cruel smile. “I am sure you will have seen by now that there is no way out of the tank.”

As he looked around, he saw there was indeed no path for escape — the metal structure holding everything together was screwed tightly, and the glass seemed too thick to shatter with his weight. All the while, he kept an eye on the dark, mauve tendrils ever reaching through the drifting current. When he turned his attention back towards Vole, she was still droning on. “Soon, you will get tired, Alex. You will drown. Or perhaps it will be fast and you will drift into the embrace of our friend. You see him...no? It is not an embrace to be desired. It will kill you.”

Kicking in the water to keep afloat, he remembered Sayle’s words describing the stinging cells dotted along the long mass of tentacles. In the neon coloured lights, the circular nodes glowed ominously.

An unforgettable death, Sayle had said.

There was an echoing beat, like a drum, and he realized it was his own heart hammering away in his chest. Flowing water rolled towards him as the current changed, drawing the creature closer, and with a quick push against the wall, he managed to evade it. The glass stretched behind him, some twenty or thirty feet of it, but the man-of-war itself was close to ten feet long.

Its tentacles had danced through the current, just inches away from his arms. He broke through the water, spluttering in his shock. As he gasped for breath, trying to keep still, something clattered against the artificial rocks that were set into the massive aquarium. Through the rippling water, he could see something shiny and metallic winking back at him in the flickering lights.

Vole’s blurry figure seemed to be laughing at him from beyond the thick glass. Suddenly the water shifted, a strong current making small waves and bringing the jellyfish back towards him. More water splashed into his face, and he felt himself being dragged with the flow, his fur coat heavy on his back. With a sharp breath, he ducked underwater, swimming towards the metal object.

Distantly, Alex heard the song of the ocean thrum through his blood. As the water closed over his hair, the hood of his sealskin floated over his head, and he felt himself fall to the rhythm that was pulsing in his heart.

There, he saw what had fallen out of his pockets — Smithers’ zit cream — and breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, the pressure of the water had lessened, and his lungs had stopped fighting for air. When he reached for the tube, he realized why — instead of rounded fingers, he saw five stout claws, attached to a furry, grey flipper.

Alarmed, he looked through the rippled glass at the bottom of the tank and met Vole’s shocked, round eyes. Breathing out slowly, he shook his head — Vole knowing his secret would only be an issue if he found a way out of the aquarium, and it was easier to focus on the problem at hand. A quick look up, and he could see the tentacled creature still drifted near the top of the water. Hopefully the current would keep it there, long enough for him to spread the cream onto the metal frame keeping the glass in place.

He snatched up the tube from where it lay amongst the rough hewn rocks, and scrabbled at the cap, struggling to get a strong grip on it with his claws. A few failed attempts, and he resorted to holding it in his flippers, and twisting it open with his teeth.

The white cream burst out, and he smeared it onto the metal that was closest to him. He followed the seams, squeezing the tube firmly and rubbing the paste into the joints with his claws. Dodging the enormous jellyfish, he swam quickly to the other side, his back flippers beating the water powerfully, and spreading the cream onto the other side of the frame.

Now, he would only have to wait, and hope that Smithers’ cream would work just as well underwater as it had in his office. He floated into the far bottom of the tank, away from the tangled tentacles and the front wall that would soon shatter.

〰〰

A lean, fair haired man stood silently in front of a helicopter. Though he was irritated at Sayle’s habit of delaying, he looked just as bored and indifferent as the rest of Sayle’s staff. The breeze rustled the leafy trees nearby as the helicopter’s engine rumbled in wait. An inconvenient, and supposedly urgent, phone call had had Sayle scurrying off of the aircraft, and he could see the short man waving his left arm wildly. A thin, shrill sound screeched out of the phone, and he recognized it as Vole’s voice.

Yassen Gregorovich was starting to regret taking this job, and he found himself wondering how many more madmen he would have to look after before his employers realized he was better suited elsewhere.

Sayle was still on the phone as he hurried off the helipad. Sighing, Yassen climbed into the aircraft and switched the engine off, watching the older man’s silhouette disappear into the hedges. It looked like they wouldn’t be departing anytime soon. He might as well stretch his legs.

As he passed through the open archway of the house, he heard an enormous, deafening crash from Sayle’s office. Was this what had caused Sayle to hurry back inside? What was that man up to now?

In a few quick strides, he had a sinking feeling he knew what had happened.

A steadily growing stream of water puddled on the persian rug in front of the office door. It seemed that Sayle’s grotesque jellyfish had finally met its match.

He opened the door slowly, letting the water flow out to equalize the pressure before stepping inside to a scene of complete wreckage, like a seaside town after a storm.

Water gushed through shattered windows, escaping the house. Lavish furniture floated by in broken pieces, and ornate frames with priceless, soaked artwork hung crookedly on the walls. Everything was covered in a fine sheen of liquid, and droplets trickled down from where the spray had hit the ceiling. He spotted the Vole woman prone on the floor, the man of war clinging to her head like a monstrous wig, and couldn’t suppress a grimace.

He delicately picked his way through the debris, careful to keep away from the venomous tentacles, which floated lifelessly in the shallow water that still flooded the room. The front wall of the aquarium was in pieces, as if something had blasted its way through.

A shape in the corner of his eye moved, and he whipped around to face it.

Something dark and furry disappeared under a floating bronze sculpture. Grateful for his combat boots, Yassen made his way towards the corner. He hadn’t been in Sayle’s office in some time, and wouldn’t be surprised if the man had added a new creature to his collection. Kicking aside a toppled candelabra, he sloshed around the heavy wooden desk only to come to an abrupt stop.

He blinked. There, hiding under the remains of Herod Sayle’s desk, was a large, fat, grey seal. As he stared at it, the seal spread its mouth into a smile. Impossibly, the creature lifted its paw as if to wave hello, before shuffling forward with a small splash.

Yassen watched it come towards him with apprehension. Perhaps it wasn’t a fully grown seal, but the thing would easily weigh over a couple hundred pounds, enough to cause serious harm. Clearly, enough to break the supposedly high-strength glass that now covered the floor in broken shards. Had Sayle decided to house a seal in the same tank as the jellyfish? The man was truly an idiot.

The man of war was highly venomous and any animal in close contact with it would succumb to a painful death. Almost every rich person Yassen had had the misfortune of coming across in his life had the most peculiar tastes, and more often than not, their whims bordered on idiotic cruelty.

Round eyes stared up into his, and he found himself feeling a bit sorry for the animal. It was lost, stuck in an unfamiliar world, but it was a strong and brave creature. Instead of succumbing to its fate, the seal had somehow managed to smash its way out of the tank, and now, instead of cowering in fear, it bravely looked up at him, asking for help.

Somewhere deep down, the seal reminded Yassen of himself, but he brushed that thought away before it had a chance to fully form. He bent down, stretching his hand towards the furry animal, and was pleasantly surprised when it bumped its head against his skin. Its fur was soft and warm.

As he looked closer, he saw a shard of glass had pierced into its flank, a bright red line of blood marking it out from the rest of the silvery fur. Now he understood what the clever creature had been asking of him.

“Are you hurt, little one?” He murmured softly, looking into the seal’s eyes as he slowly moved closer. For a fleeting moment, he thought he recognized something familiar — something he couldn’t quite place — in those dark eyes.

The seal huffed quietly, a low grunting sound, in answer to his voice. Compared to Mr. Grin and Vole, he supposed anyone would seem friendly to the poor sea creature.

The glass wasn’t embedded too deeply, and would be easy enough to pull out. Glancing around the room, he saw the sheer curtains that lined the heavy brocade drapes — they were still relatively dry. Tearing them from the windows, he ripped off a wide ribbon of the white cloth, and snatched up a heavy throw from the remains of an armchair.

With a few careful folds of the knitted blanket, his fingers were protected from the sharp edges of the large shard. With his other, free hand, he gently stroked the seal’s side, carefully assessing the best angle to extract the fragment. A quick, sharp tug, and the glass was free — but drops of blood fell into the water at his ankles, blooming like ink.

The seal was breathing quicker now, and as Yassen reached over to grab the strip of linen curtain, he saw the seal watching the blood trickling out of the wound. Swiftly, he folded the cloth around the cut, pressing hard until the blood flow slowed.

That was when he realized that binding the bandage would be a problem. He could wrap it around the top of the seal but he wasn’t about to endanger himself by trying to roll the animal.

Well. He’d done his best, and that would have to be enough. He supposed he could call someone who actually knew what they were doing. Who did one ask for, to help a randomly appearing seal, anyway? This job was ticking a lot of firsts on his list.

Seals, it turned out, were much more intelligent than he had originally thought. The furry animal pressed its flipper against the cloth covering the wound, and rolled in the shallow water, before attempting to tie the bandage itself.

The seal slapped its flippers against the water, and let out a loud, indignant bark. Yassen was shocked to see it grab the ends of the cloth in its claws and wave it at him, and couldn’t hold back a startled laugh. Shaking his head, he bent down again and tied the bandage securely.

For such a clever and brave creature, he would have to find someone to take it to safety, away from Herod Sayle, even if he wasn’t exactly being paid for it. But first, he had a deadline to keep, and a billionaire to prod back onto schedule.

Later, a bewildered animal worker would arrive at the scene after receiving an anonymous tip, but by then the seal would be long gone, as if it had never been there.

← Previous Chapter

#alex rider #yassen gregorovich #selkie au #selkies #fic #stormbreaker rewrite #seals #my fic #fanfiction #breathing underwater #my writing

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spkyscry-a · 2 years ago

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Miss her...

#Down Your Spine ;; OOC #Heads Will Roll ;; Nadia Fortune #haven't gotten to use her... she and eliza are just chillin'#ignore me i just had random nostalgia thinking of having to make graphics

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hopelikethemoon · 4 years ago

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Bed Invader (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Bed Invader Rating: PG-13 Length: 1300 Warnings: Fluff. Notes: You can find everything about Maybe Today, Maybe Forever here. Set in Summer 1998. I’m sorry it’s so short. Summary: Reader and Javier enjoy a Saturday morning.

@grapemama @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale @roxypeanut @snivellusim @lukesrighthand @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @exrebelshocktrooper @awesomefandomsunited @ah-callie @swhiskeys @lady-tano @beskar-droids @space-floozy @cable-kenobi @cool-ultra-nerd @himbopoes @findhimfives @pedrosdoll @frietiemeloen @arrowswithwifi @random066 @uncomicalhumour @heather-lynn @domino-oh-damn @cyarikaaa @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage @ksgeekgirl @yabby-girl @xqueenofthecraziesx @punkass-potato @coredrive @pascalesque @theduchessofkirkcaldy @queenquazar @sabinemorans @buckstaposition @holkaskrosnou @yespolkadotkitty @fleetwoodmactshirt @seeking-a-great–perhaps

“We have a bed invader.” You laughed softly as Josie crept into your bedroom. She was a heavy-footed child and she was not gifted at tip-toeing — especially when she had Stevie in tow.

Javier grumbled, rolling over onto his back as he threw his arm over his face. “It’s Saturday.” He cracked one eye open, before he flopped onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow.

“And we left the door unlocked,” You poked him in the ribs, making him jerk beside you. “Incoming.” You warned mere seconds before Josie lept onto the bed, giggling like a mad woman.

Josie draped herself over you, “Did I wake you up, mommy?”

“Only a little bit.” You nodded your head towards Javier. “But someone doesn’t want to wake up.”

“Daddy!” Josie urged, reaching over to slap her hand against his bare shoulder. “Wake up!”

He grunted, “I’m sleeping.”

“So grumpy.” You teased, reaching over to rumple his hair, before turning your attention back to Josie. “Wanna wake him up?”

She nodded excitedly and you settled her onto the bed in between the two of you.

“I’m gonna go get your sister, you know what to do.” You smirked as you climbed out of the bed. Josie practically threw herself onto Javier, her little hands going to his sides to tickle him. He groused and tried to escape from her, but only halfheartedly

“I see someone was already awake,” You remarked as you pushed open the nursery door. Sofía was standing in her crib, hands clamped onto the side as she bounced.

You swept her out of the bed and carried her back into the bedroom with you. Fortunately, she’d had a diaper change around four and was good to go for a little morning cuddle.

Josie was perched on Javier’s lower back, sitting cross-cross. “He won’t wake up.”

“You might’ve broken him,” You gave her a look as you shooed Stevie out of your spot on the bed. “Move, pup.”

She barked and Javier groaned. “I’m not going back to sleep am I?”

“No.” You laughed, cradling Sofía against your chest. She flopped comfortably onto her stomach, babbling as she reached for Javier.

“Daddy, wake up.” Josie insisted, bouncing on him and you noted the way he winced.

“Sweetheart, don’t do that.” You shook your head.

She leaned back down and tickled his sides. “Wake up!”

“I’m awake.” He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes before tucking his arm under his pillow. “Get up and let me roll over, princesa. You’re breaking my back.”

Josie flopped onto the bed beside you, before she leaned over and showered Sofía with kisses. “Good morning sissy!”

Sofía squealed, grabbing at Josie. “Jo-Jo!”

You nudged Javier in the leg, “Wake up, old man.”

Javier rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as he dragged his hands over his face. “I was sleeping good.”

“Exhausted from all the fun you had yesterday?”

He snorted, “Six hours in the pool did me in.” Javier grimaced as he sat up, stuffing a pillow behind his back. “Shit.”

Josie turned towards him, “Daddy!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I owe you a nickel.” He told her gently, reaching over to play his fingers through her hair. “How’d you sleep, JoJo?”

“I dreamed I was swimming.” Josie flopped onto him, keeping one hand outstretched to hold Sofía’s hand. “Can I go swimming today?”

Javier gave you a look out of the corner of his eye, “Well…”

“We’ve already got plans for the day.” You told her, holding tight to Sofía as she squirmed and tried to reach for Javier.

He pinched at the bridge of his nose, stifling a yawn before he reached over and took her from you, “It’s all good baby.”

“Mommy, what are we doing?” Josie questioned, snapping her fingers to encourage Stevie crawl further up the bed in between the two of you.

“We’re gonna go down to the boardwalk. Maybe Monica and Nadia can join us at the arcade. Do you like the sound of that?”

Josie scrunched up her nose, “I want to swim.”

“JoJo, yesterday wore your father out.” You told her, wrapping your arm around her as you pulled her into your side. You pressed a kiss to her forehead and then her cheek, before warning her to behave.

Sofía sprawled out on Javier’s chest, her chubby little cheek pressed against his skin. “She’s got the right idea,” He quipped. “Why don’t we stay home and watch a movie? We can grill.”

“I can grill.” You reminded him. He wasn’t a terrible cook, but he was terrible at grilling. “We’ve got veggie patties in the freezer.” You jerked, “Stevie quit licking my toes, you weirdo.”

Josie promptly leaned towards you and licked your cheek. ”I’m a dog!” She pretended to bark and Stevie echoed her with her own yelp.

Sofía gurgled and tried her own attempt at a yappy little bark.

“If you try to lick me,” You warned Javier as he grinned at you.

“What’s going to happen?”

“I won’t rub your back tonight.” You told him pointedly. “You’re awfully grumpy this morning.”

Javier huffed, “I was looking forward to a lazy morning.”

You gestured to the dog and the girls, “Seems lazy to me.”

“You know what I mean.”

You laughed softly, “Poor Javi.” You reached over and played with his hair. “I’m a little jealous I missed out on the pool yesterday.”

“It was not nearly as fun as it sounds. Sofía was not having it. Steve and I had to trade off with her while the girls swam.”

“Olivia did cannonballs!” Josie explained to you as she scooted down the bed to pet Stevie. “Daddy wouldn’t let me try.”

“Because daddy knows that you barely enjoy getting your head wet in the bathtub.”

You snorted, covering your face to stifle your laughter. “No wonder you're exhausted.”

“Can we watch Homeward Bound?”

��Again?” Javier groaned, “Sure. Once. Then your mother and I are going to pick something else to watch.”

“I just bought Fifth Element the other night. We enjoyed it last time we rented.”

Javier nodded, “Yeah, I’m down for watching it again.” He reached up and took your hand out of his hair, interlacing your fingers. “But I will need a nap.”

“Do you want me to grab your reading glasses too?”

He flipped you off so Josie couldn’t see him.

“If you’re going to act like that, then I’m not letting you nap at all.” You taunted with a laugh, rolling your eyes.

Josie crawled back up the bed and flopped onto her back. “Mommy.”

“Yes, baby doll?”

“I want waffles.”

“That sounds like a daddy request.”

Javier snorted, “Now I have to make breakfast too?”

Josie pouted, “I want waffles.”

“Then I suppose I better get up and make waffles.” Javier sat up slowly, keeping Sofía secured against his chest with one hand as he dragged his fingers through his hair. “You want blueberries?”

She nodded her head quickly, “Please, daddy?”

“I’ve got you.” Javier stifled another yawn, letting Sofía crawl squirm out of his hold, depositing her on the bed in between you. “You owe me tonight.”

You grinned, “I have plans. Don’t worry, old man.”

“Good.” He winked at you.

You crooked a finger at him, “C’mere.”

Javier leaned over Sofía and Josie, planting a hand on the bed so he could press a kiss to your lips.

“You’re a good father, Javi.” You patted your hand against his chest, brushing your nose against his. “Even if you’re getting old on me.”

“You try being in a pool for six hours with the Energizer Bunny.”

“That’s me!” Josie announced as she stood up and bounced on the bed.

“We were never getting a quiet morning.” You told him, scooping Sofía up as you got off the bed with Javier.

You weren’t about to force him to make breakfast alone.

“We did leave the door unlocked.”

#javier pena #javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader

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leechobsessed · 4 years ago

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Sway

Where Ella attends the Masquerade.

characters: Ella Sagen, Bato the bat-eared fox, Leila Lonan (of @leila-of-ravens), Beatrice Viano (of @juliandev0rak), Julian Devorak pairing: kind of beaellaleila, hinted Ella Sagen x Lachlan Lonan / Logen words: ~2.2k warnings: alcohol

etre bleu series

The sound of the clinic door being flung open and slammed shut pulls Ella’s attention very quickly from her work. Without hesitation, she stands up, concerned about the urgency of her guest, hurrying to the front of the office to help with whatever’s going on.

As she rounds the corner out of the office toward the front door, a smaller figure crashes into her with enough force to cause Ella to stumble backward a few steps. She frowns at the familiar woman in front of her as she places her hands on her hips, and at the same time, they ask each other the same question.

“What are you doing here?”

Leila holds up her hand, silencing her friend before she can repeat the question. “No, Ella, what are you doing here?”

She blinks at her friend, unsure if the question is rhetorical. “Working…?”

Leila rolls her gray eyes toward the ceiling, shaking her head. “I thought you said you would come to the masquerade tonight. You’ve missed the last few days because—”

“Because,” Ella interrupts. “As with every masquerade, the streets of Vesuvia have been littered with the inebriated and the injured, and someone needs to be sober enough to take care of them.”

Unimpressed, Leila places her hands on her hips, raising her eyebrows as she regards the other woman coolly. “There are other healers in the city, you know.”

Ella scoffs, tilting her chin up toward the ceiling, resting her hand on her chest feigning hurt. “None as talented as I.”

Leila bites down on her bottom lip to keep from smiling. “Don’t let Julian hear you say that.”

“He’s a doctor, not a healer, there’s a difference. And I’d say it to his face.”

“Great! You can do just that at the masquerade.”

“Leila,” Ella sighs, leaning back against Julian’s desk and crossing her arms over her chest. Once Leila has an idea in her head it’s next to impossible to talk her out of it.

“Ella,” Leila whines. “Come on. Nadia even had a costume sent over for you, and I’d love for you to meet my brothers there, where I’ve been promised they’ll be on their best behavior.” She pauses. “Well, one of them promised.”

“I could meet them after the masquerade is over. A ball isn’t the only place you can meet people.”

“Yes, but it’s arguably the most fun place to do so.” Leila frowns, folding her arms across her chest. “Why are you being so difficult about this?”

Truthfully, she didn’t know why. Ella enjoyed parties and usually wouldn’t have needed as much convincing. She just had... a feeling. She wasn’t sure if it was a good one or a bad one, but she definitely had a feeling about this masquerade, and for this reason, was hesitant to go. “I’m not being difficult, I’m being practical. My help has been required from quite a few people over these past few days.”

Leila sighs. “Have there been any true emergencies?”

“Well, no but—”

“Then just let the people of Vesuvia be drunk and stupid for one night! Please, Ella, for me?” She sticks her lower lip out and reaches for the other woman’s hands. “Please?”

Ella looks into her friends eyes, chewing on the inside of her cheek before sighing, giving in to Leila as she always does. “Okay, fine. Let me just straighten up here and I’ll go home to get changed.”

Leila smiles, clapping her hands together. “Wonderful! I expect to see you in an hour. Hear me? An hour! I’ll come find you again if you’re taking too long.”

As Leila had promised, Ella finds a costume hanging on the door to her bedroom when she arrives home. She carefully removes the dress from its hanger and lays it on the bed, quickly scanning over the note that came attached to it.

I was informed lack of costume was your reasoning for not attending the masquerade. Now, there are no more excuses. I look forward to seeing you there.

- Nadia

She frowns at the dark green dress, running her fingers along the soft fabric to watch the light catch the subtle gold sparkles within the material. Along with the dress came a small box with gold hairpins, some makeup, and, as required for a masquerade, a mask. She examines the mask carefully, which has been designed to resemble a fox and painted to match the same gold accents of the dress.

Out of curiosity, Bato leaps onto the bed, careful to avoid the expensive-looking garment as he flops down on Ella’s pillow, his ears flicking this way and that as he looks at her.

“Well, what do you think?” She holds the mask up to her face for his approval. “The ears seem to be a little too small, wouldn’t you say?”

He tilts his head and blinks at her, managing to look as unamused as possible for a fox.

“Okay, okay, you’re right, I’m sorry.” She sighs and sets the mask back down, before making her way over to her mirror to try to wrestle her hair into something presentable.

Holding the hairpins between her teeth, she quickly collects the hair around her temple and braids it, then repeats the action on the other side. She pulls the braids to meet at the base of her skull and ties them together, sliding a few of the gold pins Nadia sent into the braids to keep the hair in place. She carefully applies the gold eyeshadow, a touch of blush and some color to her lips before sitting back to examine her handiwork.

“Well?” She glances back at her familiar, who has moved closer to the edge of the bed to get closer to her.

Pretty.

As he rarely ever actually speaks to her, his voice in her head surprises her. She raises her eyebrows in response, glancing over her shoulder at him before turning back to look at herself in the mirror. “You think?”

Bato doesn’t elaborate further, just curls up into a tight ball and watches her continue to get ready, a happy energy radiating off of him.

Ella takes her time getting herself into the dress, both thankful and self conscious of just how low the back of the dress is, but she seriously doubts she would have been able to button it up herself had it come up any higher. The low back of the dress curves elegantly up around her front and over her breasts, meeting to form a soft heart shaped bodice. Thin, loose strips of material brush against her upper arms, leaving all of her shoulders and chest bare.

It’s... honestly, stunning. But she feels a bit too exposed.

“I look ridiculous in this. I’m going to... to spill out of this!” she groans, examining herself from every angle in the mirror, covering her chest with her hands. “Nadia has a habit of thinking everyone looks good in the clothing she looks good in, and that’s simply not the case,” she grumbles.

She can feel Bato laughing, and she turns quickly to look at him, pointing a finger at his small form. “Stop laughing or I’ll stick you in a dress and bring you with me.”

In response, he hops off the bed and trots out of the room, which Ella takes as her signal to get going as well.

She pulls her mask on after she locks up her shop, joining the crowd of people all dressed in colorful costumes and masks on their way to the palace. One of her neighbors hands her a flask, which she takes a quick sip of, scrunching her nose as the alcohol burns down her throat, laughing as they loop their arm together with hers to pull her along. The vibrant energy of the crowd brings her energy up as well, and she finds herself feeling more and more excited, and a little more relaxed, the closer they get to the party.

She’s not surprised in the slightest that Nadia has gone all out for this masquerade. The decorations are tasteful and elegant, the party is lively, and almost as soon as she enters the ballroom, she’s handed a glass of sparkling gold liquid from seemingly nowhere.

She accepts it gratefully and sips on it slowly while she surveys the crowd before her, hoping to catch a glimpse of anyone familiar around her. This, of course, is made considerably more difficult by the fact everyone is wearing a mask.

Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes for her to spot a familiar rabbit-eared mask off to her right, examining some desserts laid out on one of the many tables.

“Beatrice!” She calls out as she approaches. The woman turns toward her, smiling as recognizes Ella behind her mask.

“Ella! Wow, you look wonderful.”

“As do you!” Beatrice is dressed in her ever-present green cloak, but underneath she has on a beautiful white gown, embroidered with small, delicate pastel flowers in all different colors. Ella takes her friend’s hand and holds it over her head, motioning for her to spin to appreciate the way the delicate fabric moves. Beatrice laughs, obliging her friend and adding a small curtsy at the end for flourish, which leaves both women giggling.

“I’m glad you made it! Leila told me she was going to get you to come tonight, even if she had to carry you all the way here herself.”

“Hm, that seems like something she’d say.” Ella reaches up to straighten her friend’s mask, giving the small nose on it a tweak before pulling her hand away. “Speaking of, have you seen her? I don’t think she’ll believe I came if she doesn’t see me with her own two eyes.”

Beatrice stands on tiptoe to peer around the room, placing her hand on Ella’s arm to keep her balance. “I thought I saw her a few minutes ago, over that way. She was with Julian, but I don’t see where they’ve gone off to.”

Ella nods, finishing the last of her drink. “Well, in that case, I could use another drink and maybe a dance or two. Would you like to join?”

“I’ll walk that way with you,” she nods, gesturing for Ella to lead the way.

The ballroom is crowded, so the women sip on their wine as they watch the partygoers dance, admiring how unique and intricate each costume is, pointing out their favorites and trying to guess if they know who it is behind each mask.

“You know, it's much more fun to actually dance, instead of just watching.” The two magicians turn simultaneously to face Julian, who offers them a wide grin and gives their shoulders a squeeze. “So would anyone care to dance and join the party?”

Ella turns to Beatrice, who shakes her head politely. “A lovely offer, but no thank you. I’m going to explore more of what the party has to offer. I’ll see you both later?”

Ella nods and waves as Beatrice slips back into the party, disappearing into the crowd. Setting her drink down on the bar behind her, she takes Julian’s outstretched hand, nodding toward the dance floor. “After you.”

The pair make their way into the crowd of dancers, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder and his on her waist as the music starts up again. Both are skilled dancers, and they move around the floor with ease, keeping up easy conversation over the music. “I see Leila came and dragged you out,” Julian laughs.

“She’s a stubborn one, your fiancé.”

Julian’s smile only grows. “Ah, that she is. But it’s endearing, don’t you think?”

Ella rolls her eyes, but her smile betrays her. “At times.”

“Have you seen her tonight?”

“Not since she berated me at the clinic.”

He hums. “Well, she looks absolutely ravishing. Ethereal, if you will. Be sure to tell her that when you see her.”

Ella smirks. “You, my old friend, are hopelessly in love, are you aware of that?”

Julian laughs, shrugging in agreement. “She and Lysander disappeared a while ago. Lachlan hasn’t been seen since we got here,” he smiles. “Leila is very excited to introduce you and Beatrice to her family.”

“I can imagine,” Ella nods, her smile slipping fractionally. “Has she been handling... all of this alright?”

Julian frowns beneath his mask before nodding, picking up on Ella’s train of thought. “I think so. It’s a unique... situation, but she’s a strong woman, and she loves her brothers. I think she’s more happy than anything else to have them in her life again.”

Ella can only nod in response, unsure of what else to say. So instead, she focuses on the dance, laughing in surprise when he suddenly he spins her out away from him, and dips her once he pulls her back in.

After a few songs, the two of them find themselves slightly out of breath and in desperate need of something to drink.

“I’ll go grab us something from the bar?” Julian offers, undoing the top of his shirt.

Ella nods gratefully, brushing a loose piece of hair off of her mask. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

She nods as Julian disappears into the crowd, turning back to watch the dancers. The band has switched to a slower tempo, a soft and gentle piece, one Ella hasn’t heard before. Those on the dance floor pull their partners closer as they spin around the room, a beautiful flurry of color to match the feeling of the music.

She watches, almost wistfully, swaying by herself in time to the music, interrupted only when she hears Julian come up behind her.

“Ella? I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Julian’s voice pulls her attention away from the dancers, and she turns her body to face him. She’s caught completely off guard and finds her breath caught in her throat as she makes eye contact with the man standing next to Julian, a soft smile pulling at his lips as he looks back at her.

And in that moment, everything else fades away, and all she can see are blue, blue eyes.

#this was written in a frenzy because I had motivation and I was NOT about to let that get away from me #so uh surprise!!#ella sagen x lachlan lonan #logen #ella sagen #lachlan lonan #leila lonan #beatrice viano #julian devorak #beaellaleila #etre bleu series

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themidnightfarmer · 3 years ago

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Running Interference || Metzli & Jared

Timing: Current?

Location: Main street in town.

Tagging: @deathisanartmetzli

Description: A problem on the horizon, Jared makes a bargain with a stranger.

Triggers: Blood, Biting, explosions.

It felt like some sort of messed up grand welcome back to the nymph. Jared kept an odd sort of nostalgic smile on his face as he drove towards the center of town where the stampede was likely headed to. His tractor had definitely seen better days -namely the days before he’d left town five or so months previously- but it was still running just as solidly as he remembered, or at least well enough for this task.

The streets were pretty empty at this time of night, just past when the last party goers would have cleared off either to a lock-in in one of the bars to carry on the festivities or home to sleep. There was only one body on the sidewalk, and knowing what was coming this way Jared veered off the side and parked up beside the person. He wasn’t above asking for-

“-help, I was wondering if you had time to help me out?”

Metzli stumbled about, another drunken night in the books. The loneliness krept up to them, punishing them for trying to escape it, making it hurt in a way that only alcohol could fix. And even then, it was only temporary. But at least in the day, they had the gallery; another escape. Momentary distractions were enough, for now, and another one set in with the sound of a stranger’s voice.

“Help? What the fuck do you want, pendejo?” Metzli responded, a drunken grimace covering their face. Clearly they were annoyed that anyone would ask them for help. What did he take them for anyway? At this time of night, no one should be asking anyone for anything.

The motor from the tractor was loud, sounding like it was even about to give out. “Sounds like your tractor needs more help than you, Chico.”

The nymph hummed a little in thought, almost ignoring the words of the other in favour of sizing them up. Definitely under the influence of something, he hoped it was just alcohol at the very least. In some ways this would be fortunate -if they didn’t know about the supernatural in town they MIGHT be drunk enough to believe what little glamour Jared could produce to disguise the beasts. But on the other hand...well...he had been hoping to have someone a little more competent behind the wheel of his beloved tractor.

“No, no I do need the help. But hey you can drive this thing right? It’s not so hard, and it’s a bit slower than a car so… not as dangerous if you’re…-” the nymph squints at them “-drunk?”

He felt the stampede coming ever closer to entering the streets of town and got a little more insistent. Clambering down from the seat inside and gesturing. “There’s gonna be a stampede of ...cows passing through. Kinda dangerous and I need some help keeping them on main street so they don’t get caught for too long in populated areas. I’ll uh...owe you one...within reason?”

A low growl emanated from Metzli’s chest at Jared’s persistence, and even worse lie. “Those aren’t cows,” they interjected, knowing that familiar smell. Bies. Brows arched as their curiosity grew. God, this town had a way of throwing everything to them. At least it was always a little fun.

“Yeah, I’m drunk, but I can handle myself just fine. You sure it would just be fun to let the Bies do what they want?” Metzli liked a little chaos, but they thought better of it this round. People had a way of ruining things when it came to fear, and the Bies didn’t deserve the kind of retaliation they’d most likely receive. With a groan, they rolled their eyes and stood closer to the tractor. “Fine. I’ll help. But only if…” Maybe this was another good chance at a deal like Nadia’s. “If you let me have a little dinner after.” They gave Jared a wink.

“So you...know about them?” Jared asked quickly, trying not to look too relieved just in case he was wrong and they were just being difficult rather than in the know. As much as he knew it was always better to be more cautious, he was feeling a little reckless in the face of what might end up being a disaster if he didn’t get a little help. He could only do so much by himself when the beasts weren’t calm.

His smile returned as the other seemed to end up being agreeable to this shoddy plan of his. The request for dinner caught him off guard however. Jared blinked curiously at them. Was he being hit on? Couldn’t be, that’d be crazy at a time like this. He shakes his head physically, like a dog in the rain, to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, uhm, I can get you dinner after.” And then he gestured hurriedly into his tractor as he felt the Bies hit the streets on the outskirts of town, heading their way.

“Yeah I know about them,” Metzli rolled their eyes and hopped onto the tractor, which rumbled a little violently. The man really needed a new one. “You’re not buying me dinner. You are the dinner.” Eyes locked and they smiled before saying, “Don’t worry. You won’t die. It’ll only take ten seconds.” A dry chuckle sounded off from their throat and they looked in the direction of the Bies. “No take backs!”

Metzli studied the tractor for a few moments, trying to gather their bearings and focus on all the confusing mechanics. “Ohhh fuck, okay Metzli. You got this.” They giggled and wobbled about.

Clarity -as it always did for Jared- came to him far too late to do anything about it. The bargain was already struck and he had no more time to really try and figure out what the hell he’d just been roped into with this person. What were they exactly? Something that fed on others that was for sure...not fae at least? As he watched the other clamber into the cab of the tractor he grimaced but nodded. No time to complain.

They’d arrived.

At least the admittance that they weren’t human helped a little. Jared let his glamour fade a little so that he could show his horns and real eye colour. It always helped his connections to look a little more like himself. And if the other wasn’t human either then they’d not have any reason to react. “FOLLOW MY LEAD!” Jared yelled as the bies approached. The nymph took off on foot down the street like a challenge for the beasts to catch.

The tractor lurched forward, stopping, then starting, and stopping again. “Ahhhh…fuck,” Metzli slurred, messing with the gears and rotating the wheel frantically. Several cars were hit in the process, but the the tractor finally settled on a steady trajectory behind Jared. “This thing is a piece of shit.” The pace was slow, annoyingly slow, and the vampire watched through a very cracked windshield at the now revealed fae.

Following wasn’t hard, but their focus was fleeting. Zoning out, they managed to hit yet another car, scraping it for several seconds before breaking away. “I’m sure that’ll buff out,” Metzli joked and laughed to themselves.

“How far we going?! It feels like it could be hours!”

“You ever seen sheep herding?” Jared called back towards the travesty that is befalling his poor tractor. Actively trying not to cringe at the noises that are sounding down the street as the metal vehicles crunch and scrape together. Maybe giving the other the tractor had been a bad move. But at least they were protected from being on the ground surrounded by Bies. As far as he knew, he was the only person to ever get away with that.

“Herd them away from alleyways if you can.” He calls again as the stampede hits them.

The beasts hit the tractor from behind before they recalculate and start streaming past instead, their hulking figures as large as the vehicle itself. The nymph is enveloped almost instantly, being faster than a human but slowing to allow himself to touch as many as he possibly can. It won’t stop the stampede, but it will help on the other end if he can get connected to enough of them directly.

“Sheep herding is the worst!” Metzli grumbled, remembering times when they had to help their uncle on several occasions. Being a ranch hand was way worse than being a carpenter. At least with modern technology, they didn’t have to do much but drive and honk on occasion. Maybe whistle when the need arose.

But honking or whistling wouldn’t work here, not when they were being pushed around and thrashed about within the confines of the tractor. The bies blurred past them and avoided most of the stationary objects in their way. Looking forward, Metzli saw Jared making contact with as many bies as he could. They supposed this was part of the plan to herd. “You just gonna touch them or where exactly are we taking them?!” They asked, needing more enrichment than just sitting and driving.

The initial deluge of Bies into the street was almost like movie magic to Jared. He watched them running with awe in his expression and love in his heart for these vicious beasts. Getting the connection to a few of them also boosted his overall morale. As things tended to, however, the mood shifted quickly. As soon as he heard the first instance of shattering glass the moment was over. The sound was loud even with the noise of the stampede on the paved road.

A wayward Bies had been shoved by it’s herd into a shop front, and following along the beast had pushed its way inside. As if that first instance was the breaking point, more windows started to be breached. Jared swore loudly. “Just outta the street holy-” he was cut off by a beast barrelling him straight over. From somewhere out of sight under the mass of moving bodies, the nymph yelled to the other. “MY PLAN IS OVER, ANY IDEAS?”

Metzli let out a powerful wheeze as they laughed at the commotion in the store. “I say let them take over. Looks like they’re having a hell of a time.” The tractor came to a halt and they jumped out of the seat quickly after. Leaving the bies to run rampant wasn’t actually an option, but they wanted to believe it was for a moment. Childishly, they rolled their eyes, knowing they had to be responsible despite their drunken brain wanting to do otherwise.

A low, menacing growl rumbled from their chest, ready to put their predatory traits to work. Booking it towards the storefront, Metzli leapt through the broken entrance and began to herd the bies out using their glowing red eyes and fangs. By some miracle, they began to back away and converge back into the path that was set for them.

With a sigh, Metzli bolted back out onto the street and found Jared. “They’re back on track. You definitely owe me dinner.” They slurred, watching the bies moving hurriedly out. Another guttural and predatory growl pushed from their chest and the movement sped up, as if they were trying to get away from the vampire.

The shop was left in ruins as Metzli spooked the few Bies inside, back out again. Glass shattered, the door off its hinges, and the content of the bookstore on the floor or half digested. Bies didn’t even eat anything close to paper in their diet so no one would be able to explain that one.

Jared couldn’t help but be fascinated over the appearance of Metzli when they arrived at his side once he was standing again. In that momentary lapse of focus the herd were spooked by a light flickering on inside an apartment and one confused bies -in an effort to stay as far from Metzli as possible- crashed into a telephone pole and a streetlamp simultaneously. The nymph snapped back to reality and grasped for the wrist of the other, swerving as the poles cracked and buckled and started to fall...right onto a parked car.

The resulting explosion was small, but enough to push the Bies out of main streets of town on the other side than they’d arrived. Back on track to head for the open space that used to be Jared farm. The two humanoid bodies however were blown over easily. The back of his head singed, Jared looked back over his shoulder from his spot on the ground once again with wide eyes. “Fuck.” he swore.

A few mere seconds felt like the slowest time had ever gone as Metzli watched the domino effect. “You gotta be fucki—” they were cut off mid-sentence as the explosion flung them away and onto their back. Good thing they didn’t need to breathe, but too bad they could still feel pain. Their back was pulsing with pain, most likely attaining several scrapes as a result of sliding on pavement.

Still disoriented, Metzli rolled over to start getting up. Walking was out of the question, so they crawled—straight for Jared. “Listen, you owe me two fucking dinners now!” They barked, pointing an angry finger at the fae for getting them into this mess. “You’re lucky I’m nice or I’d bite you right now.” Red eyes rolled and they laid back to rest for a moment.

Everyone heard what just happened, they were sure of it. Guess it was time to get the hell out of dodge. “I’m gonna head out now. You deal with the rest of the bullshit.” Metzli managed to say through groans of pain from trying to stand up. Their attempts were finally successful and they began to limp away, as far away as they could from the wreckage.

Ears ringing, and yet Jared was aware enough to know that he couldn’t stay here. The Bies had been run out of town as he’d wanted...but the damage that had occurred in the process was definitely not part of the plan. He flipped open the only phone he had one with enough charge to hold a call and dialed in for the fire department.

Mobile to his ear Jared flashed the vampire an apologetic smile and a quick nod. “Two dinners sounds fair.” He agreed easily. A hushed whisper to the operator on the other end of his call gave the other ample time for them both to regain their breath. The nymph finished off the call with “I saw it all out my window but I’m catching a flight early in the morning so I was just leaving town.” And then swiftly hung up.

He sat up himself and made sure his glamour was back in place before hobbling to his feet to follow the other. “Thanks for your help.” He calls after them, before getting his feet under him solid enough to hurry down the same alleyway. “Really, I didn’t mean for it to uh...go so bad so quickly. I’d hoped to just like...guide them through town as quietly as possible.”

Metzli flipped the bird at Jared and growled, taking a bite at the air to intimidate him into staying back. Tomorrow, when they were no longer drunk, Metzli would honestly be thankful for such a distraction. Being alone was the alternative and not something they were willing to lose themselves to that night. “I’ve been through worse.” They began, their voice taking on an emptiness. “At least they won’t have to deal with shitty people.”

Steps were difficult due to the pain surging up and down their leg, but they insisted on continuing. How long could one guy bother them anyway? “You sticking around to give me some dinner or are you trying to bark up the wrong tree?”

Knowing he didn’t have the money at the moment to deal with being caught responsible in any way for all the property damage they were walking away from, Jared cringed and threw his flip phone into the next trashcan they both passed by. Narrowly swerving around the grumpy bite that Metzli took out of the air in his direction. The intimidation rolled right off of the nymph, not registering whatsoever in his mind. Jared continued to follow. “My thoughts exactly, humans y’know?” He chuckled thoughtlessly. “They can be cruel to what they don’t understand.”

Blinking in confusion for a moment, Jared caught up with Metzli fully. “Well I mean...uh...I do owe you two dinners so it’s up to you I guess? Keeping bargains is sort of a thing after all… I’m Jared by the way.”

Steps came to a halt and Metzli swerved on their heel to lock eyes with Jared, a little too close to his face. “Metzli. Pleasure.” Black blood stained their forehead and red eyes stared through Jared. “Might as well do it now. Need some sobering up and healing.” They smirked to themselves for striking another deal. As of late, deals were coming pretty easy. Either they were getting really good at negotiations, or people we just stupid.

“Give me your wrist,” A hand extended, waving to Jared's arm. “10 seconds and I’ll be done and on my way. Next time I wanna eat, I’ll just come find you.” Metzli took a deep inhale to memorize Jared’s scent. “Wouldn’t want you getting sick from not holding up your end of the deal.”

Though Metzli kept adding a flair of bravado and carelessness, they were feeling detached from the mask they created.

Jared only smiled awkwardly at the proximity of the other to his face, unwilling to make sudden movements in the face of a stranger. Eyes flickering over the expression of the other curiously. He’d yet to have many dealings with vampires and he was exceedingly curious about them. Though he at least knew enough to not go asking stupid questions at a time like this.

He held out his arm dutifully to the other, they’d said it wouldn’t kill him, and if they planned on cashing in another then they must be telling the truth. Bargains such as these tended to go both ways at least for a little while, to the faes knowledge...although no promise had been uttered he had hope that it would be fine. “I can give you my phone number to find me, if you look in the town register you’ll find an empty plot of land as my last known address.”

Metzli waved a hand dismissively, “Nah. I like the fun. Don’t ruin this for me.” They chuckled and grabbed the arm the was offered to them. Aches and pains motivated the quick bite, latching onto Jared’s arm eagerly. The iron medicine alleviated their pain, aiding in the healing process and even making them feel like they were floating. Never having fae blood before, they didn’t know what to expect. When the ten seconds was over, they let go and made eye contact with the man who was sure to be woozy.

“I’d probably go eat something if I were you,” Metzli graciously recommended and scanned the area. Destruction was strewn all over the ground. They definitely weren’t far enough away yet and sirens were beginning to draw closer. “You know what? Fuck it.” They scooped Jared up swiftly and easily, hoisting him onto their shoulder so they could run. They were too focused on escaping being seen to even notice that they could see past Jared’s glamour now. “We need to get the fuck outta here.” Their words bounced with each step, but within a few seconds, the wreckage was out of sight.

Jared found himself not particularly fond of the idea of being hunted down, but unable to really complain as soon as they were bitten. It was absolutely nothing like any bite he’d had before. And this nymph had been bitten by almost everything under the sun to some extent. Purple eyes met red as his knees made a poor attempt at not knocking together like some sort of cartoon character seeing a ghost. It was as if his energy level had crashed straight through the floor and into whatever lay underneath. Hard.

Being lifted bodily from the ground was certainly an experience the nymph wouldn’t forget either. The woozy feeling remained as he is jostled with their movement. He closed his eyes firmly, sort of glad he hadn’t eaten anything if this dizzy spell was going to persist, but also regretting it as maybe it’d have saved him from the full extent. “Where’re we goin’?” He asks his hands gripping Metzlis clothes, not that it’s giving him any sort of stability. The sirens in the distance stopping at the scene, and getting generally quieter as they move away.

“Here.” Metzli stated as they dropped Jared on the cold ground. His body sounded heavy and dull as it hit the grass. “Figured I should get you away from there, all things considered.” Skin crawled as they turned to finally see Jared in all his glory. “Holy…” Eyes widened and they trailed off. All glamour was gone. Seeing a fae without glamour was not common, and without having their blood before, Metzli had never experienced this.

Their skin buzzed and they stepped back, more awestruck than scared. Actually, there was no fear at all. A smile curved slowly to their lips, connecting the blood they had just consumed to their new ability. There were so many questions, but daybreak was coming, the sun creeping over the horizon. “Gotta go, pretty little creature. Don’t wanna get dusted.” Metzli pointed with their head at the glowing orb in the distance. “Don’t die! I’d like to have another taste and feel like this again!” Body jerked to run the other direction, making the words quick and unthoughtful as they booked it towards home. They needed to get home, to get away from the sun.

Jared didn’t quite know what they were seeing for a moment, and then recounted a few things he’d been taught on the road about vampires. He felt an understanding wash over him with a shiver. They were seeing grey skin, the black veins that climbed his skin like tree roots, from hands and feet upwards. They were seeing deep purple eyes from before, but in all their intensity. And they could see his horns. All four of them. Curling atop his head. In spite of himself he ducked into himself as if that would protect him from their gaze as he sat up shakily.

The nymph finally made eye contact again when Metzli spoke. The smile being awkwardly returned with unnaturally sharp teeth, but nonetheless unmistakable as the same that they’d received before. One moment there, and the next Jared was alone. It was certainly an odd turn of events that night. Jared got to his feet once again and thought back towards where he knew he wouldn’t be yelled at too much for breaking in to sleep at this time of night. And he couldn’t help also wondering when Metzli would find him for their final part of the bargain. “I’m sure they’ll show up sometime.” he shrugged to himself as he set off.

#blood tw #biting tw #explosion tw #p: chatzy #C: Metzli #deathisanartmetzli #C: Jared

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abominationvault · 1 year ago

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Session 19: Sat 25 Nov 2023

Level 3! Skabb has a new ability that lets her climb walls and ceilings, and a new spell that lets her vomit vermin on people. Combined, that should make for some interesting combat. She gets so excited about it that she closes her character sheet, and then it refuses to reopen. Then Hartvig thinks he’s the only one signed in, when in fact he’s the only one NOT signed in. Oh, he’s in the Christmas Special game. “Ohhhhhhhh… Well that’s great.”

We get some last minute levelling done (and a good amount of buggering about), and off we go. Fortunately we don’t need a recap because we kicked everybody’s asses and that was about it.

There is a room of slaves (or prisoners?) to the north of us; Hartvig Heals himself and goes to have a chat with them through the door. The idea is that we leave them here for now and drag our sorry carcasses back to town for some healing and a rest.

“Hey! Who’s in there?” he calls through the door. He hears humanoids whispering to each other.

“… Who are you? Are you with those creatures?”

“… No.”

He explains that the creatures are still here, technically, but they’re very much dead. The prisoners say that the creatures killed their friend, and used their corpse as part of the big bone statue of the ghost queen. Ah yes, we saw that. Hartvig is sorry for their loss. He wants to let them out, he says. How many are you? "Three. We were four."

What were they doing here?

More whispering. “… Osprey Club business.”

Hartvig makes a Society check to see if he knows what that means; a four. (Sprocket rolls a bit better. They are the Thieves’ Guild, they work out of one of the pubs in town.)

If Hartvig lets them out, they are sure he will be rewarded. He will try; can’t have some innocent birdwatchers being held prisoner.

With some assistance from Augustus, he gets the door open. The room holds these three:

Skabb: “They look like they’re in some sort of goth band.”

They are not in good shape. Will we take them back to town? We’ll get a reward for rescuing them. They are warned not to steal from us; Skabb has sharp teeth. Sure, we’ll take them. We were on our way back anyway; we’ve run out of Kendall mint cake.

Skabb offers them a slug which they fall upon, and immediately the rest of us offer actual rations. They want to retrieve their belongings before we go. Sprocket and Augustus find them dangling down a well on a rope. Joto pulls it up.

Inside the bags is a waterproof firearms carrying case with what feels like a firearm inside, and a gunner’s bandolier. Nadia sidles up. Do those belong to them? They shrug and shake their heads. Well, if they don’t want them, Nadia knows someone who does, she says as she’s putting on the bandolier.

Inside the carry case is a pistol engraved with a picture of what looks like a harpy, and the name “Alkonost”. Nadia takes it, very pleased. Joto grabs some of the junk jet parts for Nadia to look over later.

We skip back to town and the townsfolk are still pleased to see us; the healers heal us back to full. Joto wants to get drunk and womanise. Nadia spends the evening playing with her new bandolier:

Luna goes with the rescued Osprey Club members back to the Crook’s Nook to get our reward. Joto goes with her to get drunk. We all end up going, in the end. Here we meet the leader of the Ospreys, Yinyasmera:

She approaches us to thank us for rescuing her people. She’s very welcome, Hartvig says and bows. She gives us 50gp! We are always welcome here. Drinks are always cheap, but tonight, for us, they are free. 60 would be easier to divide, Skabb says under her breath, and we are handed another 10gp!!

We do a bit of shopping for potions; Joto sells his crossbow and Nadia buys a couple of daggers. We are reminded that Skabb demanded a house. The mayor said he’d look into it. She waddles round to see him; he’s still working on it, he says. As soon as we can give him some sort of assurance that the event at the graveyard will not be repeated, he will find us one. Until then he is answerable to the people of Otari, and he cannot just hand us a house. He gives her a lesser elixir of life (3gp); she snatches it and says “I’ll be back.” She pockets the elixir and doesn’t tell the rest of us about it.

We pop round to see Boss Skrawng. Skabb is nervous. The last time we saw him he proposed to her. She sharpens her teeth in preparation. He is astonished that we are still alive. Mushroom eye people dead?

Yup!

Nasty magic priest mushroom eye dead? That too. He orders his mitflits to leave the room. When they've gone, he drops to his knees and grabs Joto’s leg. “Forgive boss! I have no gems!”

Joto: “… Motherfucker.” He does an Intimidating Glare.

Skrawng says he will cancel his plans to attack Otari. He will be good.

“Fine. Scuttle off with your little mitflits then. And you’re not marrying our goblin, either.” Skabb sticks her tongue out and wiggles her bum for emphasis.

Skrawng mentions the water dragon; he says it 'came out all bleedy'. Was that us?

Yeah.

She’s gone deeper into the fogfen, but he will tell us when she comes out. All very nice, but what is he going to give us, Skabb asks? Any slugs? He’s got some mud cakes. Skabb gets excited until Hartvig reminds her that that’s poo.

Skabb asks if Skrawng’s spider is poisonous? Can she milk it? Its name is Bite-Bite, it turns out. It’s not poisonous, she is told. Disappointed, she leaves.

Well if we’re all happy with that deal, we will leave them to it.

There are more doors on this level. Luna finds one, and Joto and Nadia ready attacks. Luna hears a faint buzzing through the door.

(There is a new feature on Roll20 which lets the DM split the party and put half on one map and half on another; we are all horrified and demand that he ignore it.)

Skabb wants to fight the buzzers; Luna checks the door. We all go sneaky-sneaky, and Luna has a peek. Behind is a short corridor and another door.

Luna: “… Oh, God.”

Joto considers vaulting over Luna, but as he’s a bit hung over, decides against it. Luna spots no traps in the corridor and has a listen at the new door. There is intermittent buzzing. Joto puts his hand on Luna’s shoulder like he’s a SWAT team; she shrugs him off, annoyed. She sneaky-sneaky has a look. There is a silver cane amid a group of mops and buckets...

Skabb wants to do a magic check. Sprocket has Magic Sense and can cast Detect Magic as a cantrip; we call him up to the front.

Luna: “Can you come and check this please? There’s a shiny and I want it.”

Sprocket casts the spell; there is no magic in the room. Luna makes a Thievery check to retrieve the cane: 13. A fail! We all gasp.

Joto wants to steal it instead. (The battle of the cats continues.) The DM wants to allow her to retry with a Hero Point; she does. Better - 25! (A crit fail would have knocked everything else over and made a huge noise.) She examines it - it is a sword-cane! Skabb thinks she should get a top hat. So fancy! Joto hates this. He doesn’t even have a cape any more. He’s not fancy at all.

Skabb wants to split the party and open two doors at once. “Anarchy!”

Skabb opens a door and finds this:

Yuck. We are all disgusted except Skabb who is, predictably, overjoyed. She shuts the door and tells the rest of us what she’s found. “Bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz!” she calls, and the Initiative menu appears on our screens.

The thing goes first and attacks Skabb with its mandibles:

She doesn’t take the Evil damage because she is not of Good alignment; she’s Chaotic Neutral. She makes a Fortitude save - a 25. Just as well. It attacks her again for 12 more damage and she has to repeat the save; natural 20 for a 26! She is temporarily immune to whatever it is trying to do to her, yay!

Then the bastard thing goes invisible.

Joto wants to try to Perceive him. Can he hear it?

Wait - Nadia spots something. It has attacked twice, and the Invisibility thing was two actions...? The DM rewards her with a Hero Point, and retracts the Invisibility. (Joto wants to give Nadia his Hero Point.) It does a third attack against Skabb instead, and misses. Yay!

Joto shoots it with his bow but misses, and Recalls Knowledge about it instead. He thinks it might be some kind of devil, but he’s not entirely sure.

Nadia comes forward with Alkonost and shoots it; 29 hits! “… I like this new gun.”

Skabb necks a potion, which brings her back up to a third of her hit point max.

(The DM remembers that the thing is actually immune to some of the damage we’ve done; he’ll let our attacks stand for now. We’ve done mostly piercing so far.)

Skabb does Hydraulic Push and gets the howdy doodis! She splats it into the opposite wall, and some of its smashed body splashes back and lands in her mouth. If she wasn’t immune, the DM tells her, she would have to repeat her save again. She does a happy dance and licks her chops.

Joto has a go at healing her, but fails the roll. Sprocket takes a look at the body. He knows it’s a kind of lesser devil, and it was probably bound here against its will. It was probably forced to be some sort of janitor, since we found it in a cleaning cupboard. It has painted some stuff on the wall to remind it of home. We feel briefly sad for it, and then Skabb resumes desecrating its corpse.

Joto opens the other door. Inside are ‘humanoid objects’ like statues covered in dust standing in each of the corners. He puts Sprocket up on top of one so that it looks like he has a huge body, and earns himself a Hero Point.

Sprocket finds something made of clockwork up there; it is broken. Nadia has a go at repairing it, but rolls badly. She thinks they might have been some sort of cleaning automatons. She and Joto have a look to see if anything is salvageable, but they both roll too low.

Luna spots a shiny, and investigates. On closer inspection, it’s not as shiny as she thought it was (low Perception roll). Sprocket has a look with a +2 Circumstance bonus, was he’s got a good view from up there. He sees eight little gemstones among the clockwork, and he thinks he could maybe pry them out. They are worth 5gp each! He shows them to us all, as he’s got little understanding of the value of things like this. Skabb snatches one, and he offers the rest around. We thank him; he gives us a courteous little bow. (Skabb starts feeling weird about snatching the gem, though she doesn’t understand why.)

(Luna is feeling unwell, and bows out for the evening.)

Joto goes back and finds another door; we ready attacks and spells as he boots it heroically open and finds a bath and a commode. There are ribbons of eerie green light. “That’s not for me.” He steps aside and lets Sprocket in. The light is magical, he can see. He turns to us. “There’s some magic in here.” (Danny Glover voice.)

Skabb can poke her head in and recall knowledge, or maybe an Arcana check? She can do an Occultism check, but she doesn’t want to get too close. As she enters the room, the ribbons of light form letters.

“I was Otari. Save me from below.” Skabb reads the letters, against her better judgement, and tells the rest of us what they said.

The letters reform into ribbons and slither out the door and to the west. Otari was an adventurer, we remember. He was his party’s rogue, and he was killed when they came here to fight Velcro.

We follow the light - and find the bones of a long-dead body. It’s Otari! Joto kicks open the next door, and we are told to stay where we are.

Joto sees the light disappear under another door, and the Intitiative menu appears. Also, the bones on the table reform into something huge! The DM can’t find the handout, but it’s the skeleton of a minotaur, and it takes up *four squares*! So, not Otari, then.

We all get a free move action as the bones reform.

Luna is first up, so Sprocket takes over for her. He asks about the cane sword; does it do anything special to undead? Sadly, no. She stabs it with her rapier instead.

Skabb takes her turn to heal herself, but she can’t hurt it as well because she’s moved. She heals 15 hit points!

Hartvig does his new thing:

It’s a gross spell, but the thing is a skeleton, and doesn’t have any flesh. He looks embarrassed as a free action. The DM takes pity and lets him retcon. He casts Ray of Enfeeblement instead. It fails!

Skabb: “In your face, you big bony bastard!”

Hartvig has an action left. He could run away, or he could mock it…? Little Sprocket is next, so Hartvig casts Guidance on Joto.

Sprocket has Augustus give it a good battering, but 14 is just a miss. Enfeebled doesn’t affect AC, sadly. In which case, Augustus will slam it again - 23 ought to do it. The minotaur takes all 8 of the associated Thunder damage.

Joto can finally use Titan Wrestler!

So he does. He rolls 22 Athletics, sweeping it under the legs with his tail, and the skeleton rolls 18. “Ha! Fuck this guy, he’s on the floor!”

Joto makes his day worse by slamming him with his great axe. Because he is prone and flat-footed, Joto’s success becomes a Critical and he does 24 damage! He gets a Hero Point for his amazing attack. He raises the axe and swings it again - a 4. (It’s a shame Luna, AKA now the Second Best Cat, isn’t here to see this.)

It stands back up - do any of us have attacks of opportunity? No. Rats. Then it does this:

— against Skabb and Augustus. It’s Enfeebled, so it does less damage to Skabb and misses Augustus entirely.

Then this happens:

Nadia’s turn, and she whips out Bluebird for an attack. She gets a crit, and does 15 damage - and gets the howdy doodis! The bullet hits it in the chest, and it shatters back into its component bones. She gets a Hero Point as well.

The light went down some steps and further into the dungeon… We make to follow it.

Skabb wants to come back to a not-bleedy Skabb after the Christmas special, so the DM lets her heal up.

Next week, we begin our Christmas Special!

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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The Walking Dead Season 11: Who Lives and Who Dies

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This Walking Dead article contains major spoilers.

Many of us thought this day would never come, but as all of The Walking Dead‘s characters know very well, everything that has a beginning has an end. Season 11 of AMC’s flagship zombie drama will be the show’s final run of episodes, but fortunately it’s an expanded season. Fans will get 24 more episodes, broken up into three parts, before the show — and a few of its characters — meets its end.

And it wouldn’t be a season of The Walking Dead without a few big deaths along the way. As we have in past seasons, we’ve made some predictions regarding who will bite the bullet in season 11. For the final time, here are the characters we think are on the chopping block and the ones we believe will live on to remember them after the credits roll on the series finale.

Keep track of all The Walking Dead season 11 deaths below:

DEAD

Roy (C. Thomas Howell)

Prediction: Dies

Result: Dead

Roy took an arrow to the face during a Reaper ambush.

Gage (Jackson Pace)

Prediction: Dies

Result: Dead

Gage stabbed himself in the chest twice, attempting to kill himself before being devoured by walkers in a train car. Zombie Gage was then put down with a shot to the head by Gabriel.

ALIVE

Pope (Ritchie Coster)

Prediction: Dies

I’ve never seen a guy more likely to die in the first half of a Walking Dead season than Pope, the leader of the show’s newest villains, the Reapers, who themselves strike me as filler villains for Maggie and Daryl while the real story at the Commonwealth develops. I assume the Reapers will be out of the picture by the time Alexandria needs to turn its attention to the much larger settlement in the second part of season 11.

Pamela Milton (Laila Robins)

Prediction: Dies

The Governor of the Commonwealth is poised to be the final season’s big bad. A bureaucrat hellbent on preserving the way things were before the zombie outbreak, Milton even established a caste system within her settlement to propagate class inequality. She represents everything that was wrong with the world before the fall of society and the complete anti-thesis of how the Alexandrians do things.

If you’ve read the comics, you know how Pamela’s story ends in Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s story, but the TV series is known for taking sharp left turns when you least expect it. One thing we know for sure is that the Alexandrians will have to reckon with Pamela’s rule before the series finale.

Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton)

Prediction: Dies

A Commonwealth acolyte and bookkeeper of the community, Lance is one of Milton’s chief personnel, helping her run the settlement’s government. He’s also seems like cannon fodder to me as things heat up between the Commonwealth and Alexandria, an early death that could spark a conflict between the two factions.

Mercer (Michael James Shaw)

Prediction: Lives

Mercer is loyal to the Commonwealth but there are more sides to him than his distinct orange military armor lets on. He’s one of the most interesting characters of the comic’s final storyline, and it would be a shame to lose him before we can see his story through.

Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari)

Prediction: Lives

Elijah made his debut in one of the most WTF moments of season 10 when he rescued Aaron and Alden from the Whisperers. For weeks after his reveal, people wondered who the man in the steal mask could be. When he returned in the final six episodes of season 10, the show just kind of moved on without fleshing him out, which is unfortunate since he looks so cool! I’m going to assume that the series is saving a big Elijah-focused episode for later in the season and that he’s too awesome to kill off. You don’t just introduce a blade expert in a steel mask for no reason!

Virgil (Kevin Carroll)

Prediction: Dies

Virgil has a lot to atone for after kidnapping and drugging Michonne in season 10. At the end of the season, we learn that he’s found a disoriented Connie in the woods. His redemption arc will likely include helping Connie survive on the walker-infested road back to Alexandria. Will that eventually involve a final sacrifice to save her?

Connie (Lauren Ridloff)

Prediction: Lives

Connie’s been through a hell of a lot in the past season. After surviving an explosion, a cave-in, and an entire walker horde, Connie’s made it out of Whisperer territory but is still a ways from home. Expect part of season 11’s story to be about Connie’s odyssey and ultimate reunion with her sister and Daryl.

Lydia (Cassady McClincy)

Prediction: Lives

Lydia was at the center of Alexandria’s conflict with the Whisperers for a season and a half. With Alpha and Beta defeated, and their faction all but obliterated, I have to wonder what Lydia has left to do on the show. That said, the writers have continued to find interesting ways to explore this character, and someone has to live on to lead the next generation of Alexandrians. I think Lydia is in it for the long haul.

Magna (Nadia Hilker)

Prediction: Dies

Magna was sidelined pretty quickly after her introduction. While a reunion with Yumiko seems like the logical direction for her story, The Walking Dead universe is a cruel one. She could be headed toward tragedy.

Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura)

Prediction: Lives

In season 11, Yumiko is inheriting a major storyline from the comics that likely means she’ll survive the final 24 episodes of the series. Of course, the TV show could always alter that storyline to bring a tragic end to Yumiko’s story.

Luke (Dan Fogler)

Prediction: Dies

It’s pretty wild that Luke has survived as long as he has. A man of the arts hardly has a place in the cruel world of this show, but he has clumsily persevered thus far. But if the writers are planning an especially bloody final season, I’d put Luke on the short list.

Kelly (Angel Theory)

Prediction: Lives

Kelly has been one of the best late additions to the show. It would suck for her to finally reunite with her sister only to meet an unexpected end.

Alden (Callan McAuliffe)

Prediction: Dies

Another candidate for the chopping block. I’m surprised he’s even made it this long.

King Ezekiel (Khary Payton)

Prediction: Lives

Yes, Ezekiel has thyroid cancer, and were he in Alexandria, that would mean his inevitable death. But the Commonwealth is a different ballgame, an advanced settlement in the comics that will likely have the doctors and surgical resources needed to save him. That is, if Ezekiel isn’t caught up in Milton’s caste system.

Jerry (Cooper Andrews)

Prediction: Dies

I love Jerry and don’t want to see the tank with a heart of gold go. But if the season needs an early death that pulls at the heart strings, Jerry is a prime candidate for a midseason casualty.

Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam)

Prediction: Lives

Gabriel has evolved so much since his debut in season 5, becoming one of Alexandria’s key leaders. He’s come so far and even survived longer than his comic book counterpart. I’d hate to see him go so close to the end. So I’m just going to say he lives.

Aaron (Ross Marquand)

Prediction: Lives

Aaron seemed destined to die seasons ago, too kind and trusting to survive this long. But here he is, still fighting and surviving. He’s lost the man he loves, his arm, and many friends — and it’s all hardened him into a war machine. It’d be a shame for him to die now.

Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos)

Prediction: Lives

In the comics, Rosita’s head ended up on a pike during the Whisperer war, but her TV counterpart has persevered. It’s difficult to predict where her story goes at this point, but since she survived her comic book death, I assume the show’s writers have something in mind for her in season 11.

Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt)

Prediction: Lives

Eugene has become an unlikely protagonist going into season 11. From a mulleted coward hiding behind his intelligence so that others protect him to the Alexandrian leading his people to the Commonwealth, Eugene is central to the plot of the final season, and I think that means he’s safe. Plus, Eugene is hilarious, and The Walking Dead can always use a little comedic relief.

Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming)

Prediction: Lives

Result: Lived

NO.

Rick Grimes Jr. (Antony Azor)

Prediction: Lives

Nah.

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Prediction: Lives

I think The Walking Dead is going to end with one last big death, one last sacrifice before the credits roll on the massive zombie drama. Like Rick in the comics, one of the major characters of the TV series will likely become the martyr who inspires change inside the Commonwealth’s walls. Negan would probably be on the short list for this big moment from the comics, a villain finally choosing to do the right thing for a cause bigger than himself, a fitting conclusion to his seasons-long redemption arc. But Jeffrey Dean Morgan recently teased that he was already having discussions with AMC about a potential Negan spinoff after The Walking Dead has concluded, which means the former Savior leader is safe…unless the Negan show is a prequel.

Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride)

Prediction: Lives

This one’s an easy one: Melissa McBride is getting her own spinoff that will follow her character after The Walking Dead series finale. That means she’s safe.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)

Prediction: Lives

Norman Reedus is joining McBride for that spinoff, so he’s safe, too. The actor even told us what the Daryl and Carol show will be about.

Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan)

Prediction: Dies

That leaves The Walking Dead with one logical choice to pick up Rick’s final storyline from the comic. It’s Maggie. It also makes a bit of sense from a logistical standpoint. Lauren Cohan has already left The Walking Dead universe once before to pursue other small and big screen projects. She’s back for the final 24 episodes of the series as a welcome legacy character but that doesn’t mean Cohan wants to stick around for longer than that. I assume Cohan’s returned to bring closure to her character, not to prepare for a spinoff.

Let us know your predictions for The Walking Dead season 11 in the comments!

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