#I have been continuing with my exercising

[cloveroctobers]

STAY FOR AWHILE | CARMY BERZATTO (The Bear) — summer prompts

A/N: oh carmy carmy carmy!!! I can respect him acknowledging that he needs to do better for his own well-being in order to be better to others and that it’s going to be a process. What is that going to look like though? I can also understand him trying to find himself outside of what he thought he was most passionate about. He’s human (even when he became unlikable at times) yet when you look at it all?? It’s like what was that for if you’re just going to leave a mess? The desire for perfectionism is a killer. I would be open to a season five—to see HOW Carmy is going to right his wrongs. I guess all of that inspired this.

S/N: Also this is coming to you earlier than expected, thanks for voting on the poll if you did 💜

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE + HERE & I’m using: ¹⁾ a nettle-stung palm + ²⁸⁾ broken fishing rods + 16 ⋆ outdoor shower

WARNINGS: language + established past.

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅

“So…tell me exactly how you planned to do this life changing exercise with a broken fishing rod?” You say, sitting on a log, fingers pressed against your forehead as you block out the sun.

You knew you should have brought your bucket hat with you, it was probably laughing at you right now, relaxing in the cool room on the bed you left it on, while you bared the sticky hot air.

Carmy scoffs with his back to you, curls were in tact compared to how unruly they could be, his hands still fumbled around with the rod as if it’ll magically become fixed. “I uh, dunno. Maybe that’s the exercise in the first place by them giving us broken rods? To teach us patience or some shit.”

“Pretty sure the rest of the group didn’t pull the short straw,” you say, nodding toward the others farther down the bank, all of whom seem to be in the meditative trance of waiting for a tug. “Maybe it’s just karma.”

Carmy briefly runs a finger over his lips in thought, “You still believe in that huh?”

“Look what’s happening!” You point, “You’ve been trying to fix the thing for fifteen minutes, forgetting that I am a fisherwoman’s daughter. And while we wait, I’m pretty sure this nettle-stung palm of mine is also triggering my psoriasis so yeah! Karma.”

He shakes his head, muttering something under his breath you don’t catch.

“What? Speak up, Carmen.”

Carmy throws his head back, “I said! I can’t believe you had a kit this entire time. Would’ve been helpful.”

“I tried to offer it to you about five minutes in, and you ignored me.” You argue, resisting the urge to scratch at your irritated skin before throwing in with a softer tone, “Like usual.”

Carmy shakes his head, “I’m not trying to ignore you. I just didn’t hear you. There’s a lot of shit going on up there.”

“Have you had a one-on-one session with the lead here yet? Since you’re not vibing with the open discussions.”

Carmy exhales, letting a silence flow afterwards that’s rough to listen to. The guy’s got to lay off the cigarettes, like you told him back then, which was ironic since once upon a time, you both lived in Paris, full of pretty night lights that kept you both awake, a causal comfort the both of you brought (at times) after class, with Carmy healing the pressure with cigarette buds and you with espresso cups.

Years have passed, but something in the rhythm remains.

It moves like the lake behind him—small ripples that vanish if you blink too fast.

“…which is also okay if you’re not there yet.” You add, “I’ve been in this bitch—sorry that’s one of the words I said I was learning to kill. Twice now. Whatever the weight is…it was always easier for me to write it out opposed to verbally saying it. You’ll get there.”

Carmy swallows, jaw tight, “What if I don’t?” Just as the rod creaks in his grip, then finally snaps in half with an exhausted crack. He stares at it.

You’re on your feet now, standing beside him as you take the completely broken rod from his grasp to analyze before tossing it to the side.

A lost cause.

“Then you’ll be back at this circus, or some other retreat with possible psychos—until it finally works,” you tease, earning a crooked smile from the blue eyed man, “We all end up learning something along the way, regardless.”

Carmy dips his head, “Like you having a strong stance on karma?”

“I’ve got my evil eye’s all around me, tatted on my chest, and crystals that’ll give me nothing but good energy in a pouch back in my room.” You inform, “As for you, you definitely need another sesh in the steam room.”

Carmy crosses his arms, his tatted arms began to buldge underneath his stance and you make sure your eyes stay only on his face, “Well shit, I didn’t know you were employed here too?”

So you thump his collarbone, smiling when he flinched a little.

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ

You both silently agree that fishing wasn’t for you, with you grabbing your plaid shirt to tie back around your waist, and Carmy shoving his baseball hat back over his head.

“I’ve got a uh—shit relationship with fishing anyway.” Carmy tells you as you both fall into step together, climbing up the incline of a sandy hill.

“Really?” You give faux surprise, “Could’ve sworn it was a healthy one with the way you almost thought about lunging the broken rod into the lake.”

Carmy snickers, bumping his elbow with yours.

One of the retreat leaders, who was lurking off to the side with a pretty good view of everyone else, almost makes you latch onto Carmy’s arm in fear as they chirp, “Now there’s a duo! Wrapping it up a little early today I see! Good effort out there.”

They give an exaggerated thumbs up before scribbling against their clipboard again.

Once distance was put between the two of you and one of the workers, you send Carmy a crossed eyed look. “Think we’ll get a sticker for participation?”

“I’m countin’ on it.” Carmy feeds into your sarcasm, shoving his hands into his pockets.

And then the smell of algae rides the air and the sun seems to shine a spotlight on you two, like you’re meant to be center stage.

Holding up your bumpy hand, you announce, “I’m gonna head to med before I end up like a blow fish. Wish I could send a pic to my mom to scare the shit out of her though.”

Carmy actually smiles, a honest but quiet one, “I could keep you company if—if you need it? You could even use my hand as a stress ball.”

You pause at the mention, “You remember those?”

He shrugs, “Yeah I do. You used to carry the uh, scented ones. A citrusy one? Smelled like lemongrass and orange. And you had a death-grip on them before and after class.”

“Should’ve stuck with it, then maybe I wouldn’t be on pills for high-blood pressure,” you wink, “But I think I’ll be alright, Carm. Thanks though. I’ll catch you at dinner?”

Carmy dips his head in acknowledgment, trailing slowly after you before you split paths, with you heading the longer path down to med, and his carrying him back to the cabins. You don’t look back, focused on what’s in front of you, humming to yourself, whereas if you had, you might’ve caught Carmy watching your frame disappear between the trees.

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ

At dinner, you’re the last to show up—no shock there—as you squeeze Carmy’s shoulder on your way by, catching him off guard as he seemed to be deep in thought, doodling in a journal at the table, mind elsewhere, instead of engaging with others.

Classic Carmy.

The evening is structured with the founder of the retreat and head leader giving vague feedback on the fishing exercise, mostly keeping his evaluation for a later date, before informing that tonight they would all be served a Moroccan fish stew (substitution for anyone allergic, dietary restrictions, etc) as a peace offering for the night.

“This taste like anything you’ve ever made, Chef?” One of the other attendees, Lui, a former linebacker with a booming voice and the appetite to match, asks with his mouth half-full, devouring the dish like it’s an appetizer.

Carmy blinks, coming back to the present while he savors the dish, spoon moving through the meal.

It’s been about a month since he left Chicago, where homemade meals started to feel…foreign.

You’re on the other end of the table but he feels your gaze on the side of his face.

To anyone else, Carmy appeared to be dissociating but he hears it all and he pinpoints what he can taste and see.

A firm white fish—sea bass. Colorful bell peppers, fresh garlic and tomatoes, onions and ginger to build flavor, chickpeas for texture, a hint of salt from the olives, cumin and something with heat?

“Harissa.” Carmy swears he heard you whisper but it’s not said towards him.

Mediterranean mixed with a French technique.

Your specialty.

You knew he’d hear you.

Carmy finally manages to answer for what may have felt like some time, his eyes settling on the athletic man’s across from him. “Pretty close.”

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ

He left dinner before you, retreating early while you stayed behind with the other night owls, mingling with the ones still clinging to conversation and horrible cleansing drinks.

Carmy earned some points for sticking around as long as he did, even if he barely said a word. The both of you didn’t get a chance to talk much more. Which was fine and didn’t bother you. He wasn’t the social type anyway, preferring to fade into the background, especially here, where people might poke at the idea of him being that chef.

Carmen Berzatto was trying to find himself outside of cooking. But there was no way he could fully escape it.

He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to.

Maybe he just needed to see the other side.

He wondered why you didn’t bring it up since you got reacquainted.

Blow up his spot.

And why weren’t you on stage for your own culinary experience?

Perhaps it had to do with you already being here more than once but each person that attended this retreat definitely didn’t stay here for forever? Right? They eventually got cured or found some new approach to combat their issues on a daily and went on with their life?

Would this place become some sort of routine for Carmy too?

Sure it’s been years and Carmy didn’t have much of an idea of what you’ve been up to, even when you spoke at the discussions, you’ve always been a daydreamer, a writer, and at the time, you had dreams of having your own cook book line, so this was all still unreal to Carmy.

When he first spotted you at orientation, his stomach was fucked again. Part of him hoped you wouldn’t notice him. He could still bail if he wanted to.

Despite the fact that he was one of three that caught a shuttle here.

Of course you noticed him. You just didn’t approach. Maybe it was pettiness, maybe restraint. But he watched you anyway. Those opaque blues followed every move you made.

It wasn’t until you both realized you would be bunking neighbors, with your cabins side by side, that you spoke first.

Now you find Carmy some time later, journal tucked underneath his arm, strolling around the property full of greenery instead of completely tucking himself away for the night.

“Stargazing, are you?” You call out from behind.

He pauses.

“Thinking, actually.”

Your smile is faint, “Pinch of salt for your thoughts? Or are we officially blacklisted from talking about food?”

Carmy sighs, dropping his head from the navy sky that filled with fireflies more than stars, then he turns in the looped pathway to face you.

Your eyes trail over his face. There’s still a faint knick of a scar on his cheek and his curls are back to wild with the newfound summer breeze. Those eyes still resemble something between tropical waters and wildfires.

His voice wavers but he has to ask, “What happened to you? Us. Rather?”

A frown appears on your face, “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific, Carmen.”

“Why are you here?”

Sharply exhaling you reply, “Have you been listening to the group discussions or—everyone’s fucked up enough to be here.” You state, “That’s kinda the whole point.”

Carmy nods, blinking rapidly, “I just…didn’t expect for you to be here.”

“But we are.”

“…Do you ever think about Paris?” He questions.

Humming, you get a sense of where this is turning. “I did, for a while, yeah. Then you went to Copenhagen. I went to Egypt. Met my ex-husband there. Then we tried to live a life in North Dakota—total isolation. Eventually I ended up back living with my mom in New Hampshire. Paris became this…lost recipe, I guess.”

“Okay but…what does that mean?” His fingertips fidget at his side, the other tightening around his journal.

Your eyes tighten, “What do you want it to mean? The days don’t just stop.”

“For some it does…” Carmy mutters.

You’d overheard him once, telling Sharon, the sweet older woman who reminded every one of a grandmother, about Mikey. About the way grief ate at Carmy’s ability to talk about anything else for a long time. To feel anything else. She’d nodded gently, placing a wrinkled hand over his. She said her godson had been a fan of Carmy’s dishes at The French Laundry.

She’d meant it as comfort.

Sharon was probably a fan herself.

“And I’m sorry about that, truly.” You say with your hand on your chest, “Which I’m sure you’re tired of hearing. Someday…you’re gonna be more than sure of what you really want out of this life.”

Carmy’s jaw clenched, his free hand going up to massage the muscle, he didn’t want to know how you knew that so, he doesn’t say more but it’s clear his mind is going.

The air is heavy now but not hostile.

Not like it could have been.

Eventually, you both move. One trailing after the other but keeping a distance so familar between you.

A recipe waiting to be rewritten or remembered.

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ

Skincare, journaling before bed, and an eye mask pulled over your eyes to block it all out was usually enough to get you to sleep.

Not tonight.

Instead you were sitting up wide awake, chest beginning to tingle with heat, despite you keeping your head propped up by two pillows.

“Carmy.” You mutter to yourself, throwing your covers back as you collected your things to head to the one shower only you knew about.

Or so you thought.

“What the hell? You pervert!” You yell from around the open cedar outdoor shower.

Carmy nearly jumps out of his skin, he’s shirtless, gold chain still on, he’s sitting on the chair that’s tucked in there, staring down at his hands.

“Okay, no, no. I was here first!” He bolts to his feet.

Your fists dig into your hips, “And how exactly did you know about this spot without following me? Weirdo.”

Carmy scoffs, “I go on walks okay! How was I supposed to know you ended up here too? I didn’t and that’s a promise. I’m not some fucking creep.”

Sighing you calmly say, “I know, Car. I’m just messing with you.”

He slowly exhales, shoulders relaxing, hand going to pinch the bridge of his nose, “You’re unbelievable.”

“You almost sound like my ex.” You tease, tossing your towel over the ajar door.

Carmy feels his eye twitch at that, freezing as you step into the shower to turn the knob so the water begins to spray down, “…How long were you married?”

“Four years too long.” You mumble, crossing your arms, “You?”

“Huh?” Carmy nearly choked, “That’s uh—never happened for me. Didn’t have time for that part of life.”

You nod, “Doesn’t surprise me.”

Carmy stares at you and the look you share says it all.

How you worked up the nerve to ask Carmy out on a official date, despite the amount of time spent together outside of class, how you took it on the chin, played it cool, until you met up with the rest of your classmates at some club, finding Carmy locking lips with one of the other chef’s, height of a supermodel, with mean girl tendencies, right by the bar.

If he didn’t want that with you he could have just said that.

But he didn’t.

And you shouldn’t have given him that much credit back then.

That was the past. You remind yourself of that.

Graduation was the last time you saw him in person.

Until now.

Although if anyone took a peek at old journals, back in your twenties, they would realize that you always saw Carmen Berzatto for who he is.

At least—in your eyes.

Your voice if half-lost under the sound of water, “You ever think about what would’ve happened if we’d just…addressed things differently?”

“Back then?” He asked with a rub to his brow.

“Yeah.”

He lets out a breath, not quite a laugh. “Only when the pressure really sinks in.”

You grin faintly. “So…all the time, then?”

Carmy scoffs, looking off to the side. You reach out to test the temperature of the water, letting the water hit where it needs to.

“What’s the pressure look like for you?” He inquired.

Your hands go back to your hips, “Doesn’t involve culinary, that’s for damn sure.”

“Yeah?”

You explain, “Yeah. I mean—I loved it. Still do, maybe. But I don’t think I was ever in love with it. I flip houses now. With my childhood friend out in Cleveland. Less fire, unless we’re hammering down drywall. That’s a big stress reliever.”

He gives a small smile, trying to picture it.

“I’m also still into poetry, if you were wondering and if you need me to get all sentimental on you.” There’s humor in your tone and Carmy takes it because he knows, laughter was rare on his end but an essential, apparently.

Carmy snorts, “Oh like sonnets, elegies, and shit?”

You grin at him, doing a superhero pose that sparks another core memory together, how you stood in the middle of a chaotic kitchen, a bunch of hungover culinary students ready to drop pans, throw them, or crash out in French while you gave a wince of a smile (think Pearl) in this exact same pose.

“Shits getting too real in here,” you would call out to the rest of the students that looked like they were ready to launch a pan at you next, “Gotta keep our shoulders back, head up, chests out, like conquerors.”

Another student, Moira, Carmy thinks her name was lets out a scream that would crown her as a scream queen in a horror film. She used a meat tenderizer to pound into what was supposed to be duck confit before picking it up with her bare hands, and chucking it towards a open flame another chef had started.

You keep the wince of a smile on your face, witnessing that, as the two chefs started arguing in French, you and carmy’s eyes briefly meet as he walked around you, tempted to tell you to move out of his way, “Or…we could continue being unhinged walking croissants with deadly tools that can be found at the scene of the crime.” 

A trend you started, like a joke that quickly became serious. Carmy wouldn’t replicate but some other chef’s also pulled the same move, either mocking you, or they eventually gave in. Passing it along when they would see another starting to crack.

No matter how kiddish it appeared, it gave some sort of strength to keep on going, if the learner really wanted this bad enough.

Carmy wonders if you’re still doing it intentionally or was this just part of your ritual.

“Some shit.” You repeat, moving your fists from your hips as your eyes begin to have a far away look in them, “As for the pressure? It’s wrapped in a lot of things…but I’ve learned to put a red bow on it instead of letting it sink.”

Carmy lets out a slow exhale, as if he was getting rid of the smoke inside of him that no cigarette provided.

He raises his hands. One tatted fist goes to his hip and the other pressed against his head.

Saluting?

You hold his stare.

A crooked smile appears on his lips,“Chef.”

You say it back.

A mutual respect and for the first time in a long while, there’s no hollow feeling in your chest when you think of Carmen Berzatto. You see in between the tropical waters and wildfire that are his eyes.

He plans to see this through, even if at the start, there was a part of you that didn’t want him here.

It wasn’t about you, never was.

And that’s okay too.

The shower hisses quietly, light steam floating up above your heads.

Somewhere nearby, a wind chime clinks once.

Nothing else needs to be said.

For once, Carmen could be more than just one thing, and see it for himself. He could step out of his designated corner, find new ones, and hold those spaces without saying behind.

ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅ᥫ˖°𓇼 ᨒ ོ ☼༄.°⏅

Continue with my summer anthology prompts here.

[iindiafterdark]

Abby x masc reader who struggles to sleep cause of nightmares and anxiety?? Fluff or smut is fine

୨ৎ abby comforting you after a nightmare

tags/warnings: fluff, masc!reader, established relationship, no use of y/n, mentions of anxiety/depression, anxiety attacks, mentions of nightmares

an: tysm for this ask, i hope you enjoy!

you had been struggling with your nightmares for months now.

every night when you'd slide into bed with abby, as she rested her head in the crook of your neck you'd always hoped- prayed- to sleep through the night. but that night had never come, and it was weighing you down.

abby, being as observant as she was, noticed it fairly quickly. the deep prominent eyebags under your eyes, the excessive amounts of coffee you would have each morning, and the way you struggled to stay awake during your weekly movie nights with her.

she noticed everything, and it absolutely killed her that she couldn't take it all away. much to your dismay, you never shook her awake from your nightmares anymore. your eyes just snapped open, adjusting to the dark bedroom as the night passed by you so painfully slow. they were never extreme, but tonight was different.

you both were fast asleep in bed, your limbs lazily intertwined and tangled within the sheets. your breathing is synchronized, the heat of abby's breath on your neck.

your eyes snap open, your body involuntarily going into a state of panic as you let out a disoriented sound of distress. you feel the dryness in your throat as it begins to close up in fear, making you freak out even more as the terror shoots through your body.

your sudden movements woke abby. her eyes, filled with sleep, peered at your trembling frame next to her. you're panting now, struggling to calm down and catch a full breath. she calls your name but you don't register it, you're too focused on the caving sensation in your chest. "i-i can't breathe," you wheeze, your voice weak.

she quickly turns on the bedside lamp, reaching out her hands to your face, grounding you slightly. she had an alarmed expression on her face, brows furrowed with worry.

"hey i got you, okay? remember what we talked about?" she asked, cradling your face with her calloused hands. you faintly remembered the exercise you talked about with her when your anxiety got the best of you, the five senses exercise. you nod slowly, still trying to get air through your lungs.

she gives you a small smile of encouragement at your nod. "okay good, breathe slowly and tell me five things you can see baby," she urges.

you oblige to her words, attempting to take a deep breath and looking around the room. "i..i see our dresser, t-the lamp in the corner, the curtains, the alarm clock and the mirror," you answer, already feeling your breathing slow. her smile widens, swiping her thumb across your cheek. "good, you're doing great. now four things you can touch," she directs, making your hands fly out to palm the sheets beneath you.

"the sheets..um my shorts, my hoodie and..you," you mumble, your hands resting on her waist. a light pink tinge rises on her cheeks, but she continues to focus on calming you down. "doing so good for me sweetheart, just three more things okay? what can you hear?" she asks.

your breathing is almost back to normal as you take in another strong inhale. you listen in closely to your surroundings before answering her. "i hear the clock in the living room, the fan and the crickets outside," you murmur, feeling the panic that was going through you in shockwaves muddle out. you hold her gaze, feeling yourself calm down even more.

"what are two things you can smell?" she presses, bringing one of her hands up to your hair. she weaves her fingers through it, making you lean into her touch.

you breath in once again, smelling the faint amber from the candle abby lit earlier and her shampoo that smelt of coconut and lavender. "i can smell the candle from earlier..and your shampoo," you answer.

your arms snake around her waist more comfortably, pulling her closer. "alright now, what's one thing you can taste-" her question was interrupted as your lips tenderly meet hers. you kiss her softly, savoring the vanilla chapstick she always uses.

you pull away slowly, smiling. your nightmare being the last thing on your mind now. you nuzzle your face into her chest, breathing in her very essence. "you...i love you," you whisper. she lets out a small breathy laugh, clutching your hair in her hands. "i love you too."

[avocado-writing]

What if Reader was a paranormal creature sort of like Perpetua is?

But she doesn’t really know it (maybe it’s demonic ancestry). For instance, sometimes she wakes up confused in strange places in the ministry. Perpetua is really happy about it once he realizes what’s going on.

“Oh, so it was your girlfriend who’s been chasing the ghouls for the past several nights.” —Copia

“She didn’t mean to scare them too much.” —Perpetua

gn!creature!reader x creature!perpetua

i wrote this as gn reader bc everyone wants to be a cryptid in the shadows sometimes lmao. also you are sort of aware of what you're doing rather than being totally blindsided by it!

you haven't... acclimatised to humanity as well as he has.

the two of you had been monsters, beasts of the night, creatures who stalked and skulked and clung to the shadows in a way which was unsettling at best and nightmare-inducing at worst. but then he'd been called upon to become Papa and his desire to find a home had won out over his attachment to the abyss. and because you loved him, of course, the two of you entered the Ministry hand-in-hand, your claws catching together as you morphed and shaped into bipedal forms under the light of the altar.

by day you were people, fine upstanding members of the Church. by night, you gave into your true natures.

and you had just a little bit less control over your real self than he did.

he sits in front of Frater Imperator's desk, his twin, though the man in front of him is more of a human than he could ever hope to be. Perpetua shifts under his exhausted gaze.

"you need to rein them in," he says, levelly. Perpetua sighs.

"I'm trying. they just need to... let off a little steam, that's all. it's difficult for us, being in these bodies."

"you manage it."

"there must be more human in my bloodline. I mean, we are related, correct? they don't have that luxury."

Copia makes a pained noise.

"they were chasing Siblings around after evening mass."

"... they say it's good exercise."

"they were on all fours, snarling! they bit someone, for Satan's sake!"

"they didn't draw blood!"

Copia shakes his head in despair before burying his face in his hands.

"fratello," he says kindly, and that touches a soft place in Perpetua's heart, "you need to talk to them. your parmour cannot continue to terrorise my congregation. please find a way to keep them under control."

"I will do my best," he concedes. the meeting is adjourned. as Perpetua returns to his apartments he sees the sun going down, and knows he will find you out of your daytime body.

sure enough he opens the door and finds you hanging from the rafters, tail and wings stretched out, long limbs unfolding to shake out the discomfort of only having two elbows for the past twelve hours. your eyes blink all at once and come to land on him.

"your brother is angry with me, isn't he?"

"not angry, my heart. just... he doesn't understand, not like I do."

you harrumph, admiring your claws.

"we agreed to come and take this position for him. he could cut us some slack."

you seem upset. with as little effort as it takes to remove a jacket at the end of a day, Perpetua shucks his human skin and ascends into the ceiling with you. it is easier to behold you like this. you do not blur out of reality when he is also in his true form, and he can appreciate every little detail of your body: your silky fur, your perfect talons, the razor-sharp edges of your teeth.

"come here, my love."

you collapse into his embrace, burying your face into his shoulder.

"i'm sorry, Perpetua. I don't mean to run riot. it's just hard, being in that tiny form all day. I go a little over-the-top at night."

he hums thoughtfully.

"well... perhaps I will just have to think of ways to have you burn off that energy inside the bedroom," he says. you perk up immediately at that, meeting his mismatched gaze and face bursting into a smile.

"oh... well, when you put it like that, Papa..."

he moans at the use of his title, feeling himself become aroused as you lean in. he cups your face in his palms and pulls you in for what passes as a kiss in these bodies.

that is one good thing about humans. it is easier to press your lips together without snouts.

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 10 - Neve Gallus

Rewriting Veilguard Part 9 - The Dumat

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Rewriting Neve Gallus' Recruitment Mission

Now that we have thoroughly explored the parts of the Dumat currently available to us, it is time to embark on our first main mission, and it is, shockingly, a companion recruitment.

Last time, we were presented with a choice: do we head to Minrathous and recruit Neve, or do we go back to Arlathan Forest and find Bellara? Well, in this playthrough, we choose to go to Minrathous first. We know Bellara, so finding and recruiting her won’t be as challenging as Neve, or so we believe right now.

So, in Veilguard, Neve doesn’t really have much of a recruitment mission. We find her in the opening mission and she follows us to our confrontation with Solas. Well, in this chapter of the rewrite, we shall be incorporating elements of that original opening mission that are still good to be used, but we’re going to change some of the context around them to turn them into a Neve-exclusive recruitment mission.

Simultaneously, we shall also be looking at how to introduce the Shadow Dragons as a faction into the story, for anyone who didn’t pick the Mercar origin.

So, without further ado, let us dive in. This is how Neve joins the party in our rewrite project.

Accepting the Mission

Continuing from where we left off, Rook chooses to travel to Minrathous in order to find and recruit Neve Gallus for our fight against Solas. And here is something I would like to establish pretty early on: Solas is still the big threat at this point in the game. Stopping him is our number one priority. We don’t know anything about Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain yet. There is no Sixth Blight yet. The great ritual that unleashes all of that has not yet begun. This means that all the companions we recruit and all the efforts we undertake right now are to stop Solas. You can therefore expect some changes in how we recruit the other companions here so that everything fits this context.

I’m doing this for one pretty obvious reason: We need to have some payoff after Trespasser. At least for a good first chunk of the game, it is the sequel to everything that’s been set up there. The Evanuris are a great threat in their own right, but they deserve some proper build-up as well.

After choosing to go to Minrathous, Varric grunts and comments on how we’re about to have a pretty grim time as a Dalish elf, or an elf in general. Minrathous…is not a nice place for our kind. And we’re doing the lore-accurate Minrathous, not the sanitised one we see in Veilguard. This was one of my biggest critiques of the vanilla game: Minrathous is just too nice of a place to be in. It’s supposed to be nice only for the Tevinter upper classes. Everyone else works and suffers. It’s pretty much a dystopian society. Like, Kirkwall and the fucked-up shit we saw there is just a pale imitation of what awaits us in this city.

Once all is decided, Isabela enters the meeting chamber, and Varric tells her to set a course for Minrathous. She whistles as that’s a pretty eager first destination, but she is ready to test her new ship that way. She tells us all to relax and enjoy the voyage.

What follows is a cinematic of the Dumat gliding through the depths of the Nocen Sea like some kind of gigantic sea monster.

The Silence

At some point, we’re approached by Varric who instructs us to follow him. Joined by Harding, we enter a previously unseen part of our ship. It looks like a dock, but without water. Instead, suspended in the air, we see another submarine, much, much smaller. This one only fits a few people, but is of an equal dragon-shaped form to our main vessel, except much leaner.

Isabela introduces us to the Dumat’s precious little daughter, the Silence, a vessel meant to detach itself from the main ship to approach a chosen destination in a much more clandestine manner.

I would like the Dumat to remain the main base in the deep waters. The problem with that is that the image of such a gigantic submarine trying to wind its way through city canals is kind of ridiculous. So we need a bit of a smaller boat to fulfil that function, one specifically reserved for Rook and the party. This is our main way of reaching our actual mission location.

I named her Silence because Dumat is the Dragon of Silence, but I’m pretty sure everyone who’s reading this is well aware of that, so I won’t be dwelling on it for too much.

Anyway, Rook, Harding, Varric, and Isabela board the Silence, and Isabela immediately takes the wheel. Varric urges us to watch along, in case we ever need to navigate her ourselves.

In a short cinematic, the dark stone floor beneath the Silence opens and she drops down into the seawater. Back on board, Varric tells us that he’s arranged for a meeting with the Shadow Dragons in their underground lair. They know better than anyone how to reach Neve Gallus in a secret manner.

Here we get a small verbal introduction to what the Shadow Dragons are for anyone who hasn’t played the respective origin story. As a freedom-loving Dalish, we approve of their slave-freeing ideals and look forward to meeting them.

Harding then speaks of the last time she and Varric have been to Minrathous, and it was, incidentally, on their hunt for Solas a while ago. It was the culmination of a goose chase that led them across half of Northern Thedas, including Arlathan Forest. They learned that Solas was collecting various Venatori artifacts and freeing slaves in the process. Ultimately, Solas narrowly escaped after presenting her and Varric with the choice of either pursuing him or helping the slaves he fred to remain free. This is a reference to the story depicted in the Missing comics. Rook is a bit surprised to hear that Solas would be interested in freeing slaves, to which Varric tells us that there may be some things we don’t yet know about the Dread Wolf, or Ancient Elvhenan in general. When we begin to press further, we’re told to ask the Inquisitor when next we meet, as she can provide the best account of what she discovered by far. We make a mental note to ask her when the opportunity presents itself again.

Arrival in Minrathous

When we first arrive in Minrathous, we don’t really see it yet, as we’re approaching the city from underwater. What we do see, however, are the hulls of several ships heading here and there, strange fish swimming about, magical crystals keeping the water clean. What we also see, as we pass by them, are several sunken ruins. There are palaces, walls, castles, shipwrecks, and also, beneath all the Tevinter rubble, Ancient Elvhen architecture. As a Dalish Rook we immediately point that out. As far as Varric is aware, Minrathous, like so much of Tevinter, was built on the bones of Ancient Elvhenan, so seeing this doesn’t surprise him at all.

From his pocket, Varric produces a sending crystal and contacts someone. He soon gets a response on the other end, from a voice that we don’t recognise. OOC, however, since we went through all origin stories in this rewrite, we as players recognise it as Maevaris’ voice. Varric asks for directions and Maevaris tells us to enter beneath a sunken halla statue.

Isabela immediately looks for the landmark and finds it straight away. Beneath the sunken remains of an ancient halla statue, the Silence enters a dark cavern. Immediately, a set of glowing crystals attached to the Silence’s outer hull begin to illuminate our surroundings.

Varric thanks Maevaris, we’ll see each other in a bit.

The Shadow Lair

The Silence moves through a few more dark flooded passages, until we finally break through the surface.

We now find ourselves in the Undercity, which we already got a glimpse of in the Shadow Dragon origin. But in this playthrough, we get to see it for the first time now.

The Silence docks right at the entrance to the Shadow Lair, the headquarters of the Shadow Dragons. We are immediately greeted by Maevaris in person, who is glad to see Varric and Harding again, as they did have dealings in the past.

After a small expository introduction to the Undercity and the Shadow Dragons as a concept, Varric introduces Rook to Maevaris as the one who was brought on to act against the Dread Wolf. Maevaris never met Solas, but she knows enough from Varric and Dorian to grasp the scope of the situation.

We then state that we came to find and recruit Neve Gallus, a decision Maevaris approves of. However, we need to actually meet with her first, and it might be difficult to get her to leave straight away as she’s in the middle of something.

Since we haven’t played the Shadow Dragon origin in this write-up, this is where we are formally introduced to the still-active Venatori and Imperator Laskaris’ new Salvatio Initiative, where all “useless” slaves are brought on as cannon fodder for the war against the Antaam. As a freedom-loving Dalish who is already wholeheartedly disgusted by Minrathous without even having actually seen it yet, we are outraged by this. It doesn’t take long to motivate us to fight against the Venatori in addition to the Dread Wolf. Perhaps the two forces are even linked to some degree, though Varric disagrees with the notion, since Solas absolutely detests slavery.

We are then informed that a meeting with Neve has been arranged at a bar in Dock Town, where we shall learn more about the case she’s currently on. If we help her, she will be more inclined to join us. Maevaris mentions how Neve is especially persistent to get back at the Venatori, since on her last investigation into Laskaris, another Shadow Dragon by the name of Mercar was killed while working with her.

Maevaris introduces us to the Templars Rana and Brom, who we remember from Tevinter Nights. Rana does appear in DAV as a friend of Neve’s, but Brom somehow died between the book and the game. In this rewrite, I would actually like to show a bit of Brom before that happens.

Before we head off into Dock Town, we get a small chance to explore the Shadow Lair and talk to some of the Shadow Dragons.

We get a little scene between Varric and Maevaris in which their familial connection is revealed to us. She is, after all, the widow of his cousin, Thorold.

We encounter and can have a chat with Lorelei, where we get told of how she was sold into slavery by Loghain during the Fifth Blight. As a Dalish, we can have a nice moment talking about city elves and Dalish.

We can talk to Rana and Brom and learn a little about Imperial Templars. They also mention how they helped Neve in stopping a Venatori called Aelia from releasing a powerful demon beneath Minrathous a few years ago, which is something that can be read in Tevinter Nights.

We can talk to Harding and how it feels for her to be back in Minrathous. Last time, they were hunting for Solas, and nearly even got to him, but he used their shared desire for freeing slaves to get her and Varric off his trail. Personally, as a farm girl who grew up in Ferelden, Hardings finds Minrathous to be both overwhelming and daunting as it is so far removed from anything she is familiar with.

Rook gets a quiet moment for herself by gazing at the traces of Ancient Elvhen architecture within the Undercity, reflecting on how Tevinter truly did sink Arlathan into the ground, in more ways than one.

Once we are done exploring, we talk to Rana and Brom and head into Dock Town.

Dock Town

We did have a chance to look at Dock Town during the Shadow Dragon origin story before. But, since this is our Veil Jumper Rook, this is going to be our first proper introduction to Minrathous.

We leave the Undercity through the vast catacombs and sewers. Rana and Brom know how to navigate the tunnels. The Shadow Dragons reside in an especially labyrinthine part of Minrathous’ underground to avoid being easily discovered by the Magisterium.

When we first see Dock Town, it’s late afternoon, but it feels like nighttime. A seemingly permanent shadow, cast by the splendorous towers and palace of the wealthier areas, looms over the entire district. There is an immediate sense of dystopian oppression. These truly are the slums of Minrathous.

Rana and Brom tell us to stay with them and not to go off on our own. Rook being Dalish makes her an especially favoured target of slavers and criminals.

And thus begins our long walk through Dock Town. We can either go to the bar in a straight line, or take the time and encounter some interesting details on the road:

A bunch of slaves are being marched off to one of the Imperium’s battleships, conscripted into the war against the Qunari. We can very well take a guess that this is the Salvatio Initiative on display. It seems they are trying out the method in Dock Town already.

A guard chases down a small elven girl into an alleyway, intending to apprehend her. We can ignore it or chase after them. In our case, we follow. As the guard tries to grab her, Rook steps in. With us being a Dalish, the guard does not listen to anything we have to say and instead tries to attack us directly. We can either choose to fight or have Rana and Brom deal with it. In our case, we fight and knock the guy out. The elf is revealed to have stolen a loaf of bread from her master’s kitchen, with the intention of feeding her family. Rana and Brom offer to take the girl and her family to the Shadow Lair, where they have a chance to live without cruelty for the time being.

A Chantry brother stands on a pedestal and preaches to the poor people of Dock Town that they should consider enlisting into the Imperial Legion to fight for their home against the savage Qunari. Joining the legions will guarantee a better life should they return home. Some people, indeed, do enlist, and the legionnaires take them away. Varric sighs and muses that the Magisters commanding the legions will certainly make sure that those poor wretches are the first to be slaughtered.

Alongside these more specific, scripted encounters, we see other things such as crumbling buildings, shady people lurking in the alleyways, beggars on the streets, guards and slave hunters patrolling everything, and an overall dark, rainy ambience. The idea here is to convey the atmosphere of Dock Town as efficiently as possible. This is the worst place in Minrathous, at least on the surface. There are things in the catacombs and the Undercity that we shall delve into a little later.

The Bar

After a while, we reach the bar. It’s been purposely chosen to meet at one of the lesser-known places to avoid attracting too much attention.

The moment we enter, we see just how seedy the atmosphere here is. The lights are dim, the servers don’t look us in the eyes, and the few patrons that are there keep to themselves in huddled conversations.

And now we’re going to adapt a scene from DAV but recontextualise it to make it fit into the rewritten narrative. In the very first mission, we enter a bar somewhere in Hightown to look for Neve but find that it has been overtaken by Venatori who laid a trap for us. Let’s take a close look at this scene and expand on it a little.

So, Rook, Varric, Harding, Rana, and Brom all sit down at the table and wait for Neve. But she just isn’t showing up, which is strange because, actually, she should have been there by now. Rana remarks on how Neve is always the first one at meetings like this one.

Varric leans back and tells Harding to take a few looks around. Harding notices that quite a few of the patrons are looking their way. Varric adds by noticing all of them carrying some kind of weapon. And that glint in the barkeeper’s eyes...oh yes, he saw that shit in Kirkwall all the time whenever someone was to get ambushed at the Hanged Man. He even saw Isabela plan some of those ambushes herself. Then, Brom points out that one of the men in the back should be in the dungeons. We ask why, and Brom answers that he has been convicted for working with the Venatori. Varric chuckles and sighs. “Well,” he says, “that’s how all the great stories begin. With the seediest bar in town, and a missing contact.”

At this point, the bar guests stand up and slowly begin to move towards us, including the barkeeper. She sits down at the edge of the table and looks at us rather cockily. At this point, Rook asks about Neve Gallus’ whereabouts. The barkeeper chuckles and tells us that we’re in no position to make demands or asks questions at all. The Venatori knew we would come. And now, we are going to fight. Unless...

Rook has a moment to quickly choose what she wants to do:

We could threaten the Venatori by having Varric and Harding talk about their past experiences with them.

We could threaten the Venatori by having Rana and Brom declare themselves as Imperial Templars, who have the full authority to arrest them.

Origin and class-specific: We could threaten the Venatori by having Rook demonstrate her expertise with the wild magic of Arlathan Forest, and how she would be able to tear this whole place asunder.

Or we could fight our way through this whole ordeal.

Since we don’t want to expose our allies’ identities, Rook steps up and demonstrates her magic by gathering all the fire in the bar into one huge fireball by standing on the table. She states the techniques she learnt in Arlathan Forest, and that wild magic is so easily disturbed. She can’t see any mages among the Venatori so there wouldn’t be anyone to oppose her right now.

Sufficiently intimidated by the giant fireball looming over them, the barkeeper admits that Neve was taken to the Erimond Estate in Hightown.

Now that we have what we wanted, we can either calm the fireball or unleash it upon the Venatori. We choose to not burn the place to the ground and calmly send the fire back into the fireplace.

Following the little display, we leave the bar. Varric is impressed with our ability to de-escalate a situation like this. It makes him even more certain of having picked the right person for the job.

Now, we are, of course, familiar with the name Erimond from DAI. Livius Erimond was the Magister who, on Corypheus’ orders, corrupted the Grey Wardens of Orlais and caused them to sacrifice their own to unleash a demon army. He was apprehended by the Inquisitor. But his sister, Felicia, still roams free, as seen in Tevinter Nights. In the years following DAI, she has assumed the role of Magister Erimond and now owns a large portion of the Slave Bazaar.

Rana and Brom know that getting to Erimond Estate, especially with Venatori involved, will be difficult. There are most likely more Venatori patrolling the streets, which might cause all kinds of skirmishes. We are now presented with a choice:

We could try to sneak into the Erimond Estate with all our people. Getting to the place will be tougher and there are likely going to be fights waiting for us.

We could volunteer to be brought into the Erimond Estate as an escaped slave, with Rana and Brom as the Templars who caught us. We will avoid all skirmishes until we set foot into the estate. But once we’re there, we’re on our own until we find Neve.

It’s a very tough one to make for our Dalish Veil Jumper Rook. On one hand, she doesn’t want to risk the others by putting them into harm’s way, already displaying qualities of a leader here. On the other hand, she absolutely hates the idea of even pretending to be a slave, if only temporarily. But, in the end, she is willing to along with it, but she’s going to absolutely hate every waking moment of it. In the meantime, Varric and Harding will go and alert some of the Shadow Dragons to act as potential back-up should things go awry.

We bid a momentary farewell to Varric and Harding and allow Rana and Brom to attach chains to us. We also get the slave mark of House Erimond put onto our cheek. We can either keep it together or be visibly upset about it.

Hightown

We get treated to a cutscene that shows Rana and Brom escorting Rook through the streets of Minrathous, ascending higher and higher, until we leave the gutters and the darkness behind and enter Hightown. This is an absolute contrast to the Minrathous we saw in Dock Town. This part of the city is rich, vibrant, glittering, with magic at absolutely every corner. This is the Minrathous all the stories speak of.

In the distance, we see great landmarks such as the Archon’s Palace floating in the sky, the Argent Spire looming over everything, the Circle of Magi, once a Temple of Razikale, shimmering in arcane lights; and everywhere we look, we see richly dressed people, guards, soldiers, magisters, but also rows upon rows of chained slaves being ushered around, as well as slaves tending to their masters and being mistreated whenever they do something wrong.

Rana and Brom tell us not to do anything rash and just go along with whatever they do. The plan is for the three of us to gain access to the Erimond Estate. Once we’re inside, the shackles are off and we find Neve Gallus, even by using violence if necessary.

While being forcefully escorted through Hightown, we get to witness a few things:

A march of freshly enlisted mage legionnaires, children of magisters and wealthy laetans, parade down the road, towards the harbour. Soon, they shall sail against the Qunari in Seheron. Everyone praises Imperator Laskaris for finally seemingly getting an edge against the Antaam. They new warriors are escorted by Knight-Commander Lenos and other high-ranking members of the Imperial Templar Order. Rana comments on how the Divine and even the Archon will likely personally see them off.

We see the two Juggernauts, the gigantic golems that have existed in Minrathous since the days of the First Blight. They are currently in the process of being brought to the Dwarven Embassy to have new runes applied to them, should war come to Minrathous.

In the far distance, we see one of the floating towers threatening to collapse. For a few moments, it falls towards the surface, but then mages reach out and reinforce the spells, keeping the structure afloat.

Overall, Hightown invokes incredible splendour, but given what we’ve seen of Dock Town and the Undercity, we get a greater sense of the sheer dystopia that is Minrathous.

Arriving at the Erimond Estate

At one point, we finally reach the Erimond Estate. It is a dark castle-like building standing amidst a lush but soulless-looking garden. Rana and Brom tell you to play the part and start to viciously drag you towards the gates, where the guards let us pass after a few words are exchanged.

Upon reaching the main doors, we are stopped by a mage by the name of Crispin Kavlo. As we know from Tevinter Nights, Kavlo is one of the Venatori and a close associate of Felicia.

Kavlo apprehends Rana and Brom and demands to know what’s going on. We stay silent and let the Templars do the talking. Kavlo believes them enough to buy that we’re an escaped slave. He looks us over and notes our exotic Dalish look. Oh yes, we will certainly not escape again, as Dalish are very valuable. He orders Rana and Brom away. Rana protests, but Kavlo won’t hear of it. We exchange quick looks before Kavlo pushes us inside.

What follows next is a cutscene of Kavlo and a few lower Venatori grunts leading us through the estate, towards the dungeons, hurling insults at us for being both a slave and an elf.

Neve Gallus

We enter the dungeons of the Erimond Estate and find ourselves looking at a strange image: everything is frozen. And we’re not even the first Venatori to arrive, as several other grunts stand scattered around the dungeons, all frozen solid.

Just as Kavlo begins shouting in confused rage, a lonely figure steps out of the icy fog before us: Neve Gallus. She’s frozen up all the Venatori and was just waiting for more to show up so that she has an easier time dealing with Felicia later.

Kavlo wants to leave but Neve freezes the door shut. At this point, we drop our charade and break the loose shackles Rana and Brom put on us.

A mini-boss fight ensues in which Rook and Neve go up against Kavlo and the Venatori. A small gimmick here is that Kavlo will occasionally unfreeze some of the grunts to add to the number of enemies, and we can prevent him from doing that.

Once Kavlo is defeated, he’ll spout some Venatori dogma to us before Neve utterly disarms him. She then immediately attempts to get to know Rook better by asking what should happen to Kavlo. We could:

Kill him.

Let him live for now and find a better use for him later.

We would very much like to kill him, but see the sense in keeping a Venatori hostage, so we choose to let Kavlo live. Neve immediately freezes him, intending to thaw him later, once Felicia is dealt with.

We then properly acquaint ourselves with Neve and get to know each other for the few brief moments of respite we have. We introduce ourselves as Rook and that we’re looking to recruit her for a very crucial mission. Neve recalls how Maevaris set up a meeting at the bar and deduces that we are the reason. When we ask her about the Venatori apprehending her, she lets us know that she deliberately let them follow and imprison her because that would get her close to Felicia. If we help her apprehend her now, she will join us on our mission. She has a feeling she’s going to need to lay low for a while after this stunt anyway.

Neve lets us know that Felicia is somewhere on the upper floors of the Erimond Estate. Even though she managed to freeze some of the Venatori in the basement, there will be more. But since we’re both capable fighters, this shouldn’t be a problem.

The Erimond Estate

We now have a pretty simple goal for the rest of this quest: fight our way through the Erimond Estate and confront Felicia. Together with Neve as our companions, we leave the dungeons and get right to it.

Aside from encountering a few groups of Venatori in the various rooms and corridors, there are a few other encounters we come across:

In a small chamber, we come across some of Laskaris’ blood collars. We destroy most of them except for one, which we take for further study.

Some slaves are in the process of being given the blood collars. We fight off the Venatori and release the slaves, telling them to stay put until the coast is clear.

We enter a room to find some of Laskaris’ legionnaires alongside a few Venatori. After fighting them, we find a map with planned movements across Tevinter, where the blood collars are to be tried and tested in the open. There seems to be a siege planned to retake Vyrantium from the Antaam.

Throughout our advance further into the Erimond Estate, we really get a sense for how wealthy such a single magister is. We see arcane decorations everywhere, relics passed down from generations of Erimonds. It’s clear that this family has been around for quite a while. We even see a portrait of Livius Erimond on very open display, suggesting that Felicia does miss him in some capacity.

Felicia Erimond

At some point, we reach Felicia’s study and dispatch the Venatori guards outside. We enter and find ourselves in a large and lavish room, with arcane glyphs all over the floor.

Felicia Erimond sits at a very large desk and looks up, pretty unbothered. She wondered when Neve would finally show up to apprehend her. Then, she inspects us and muses how strange it is to see an armed Dalish elf in the heart of Minrathous. Neve immediately notes that Felicia must have something up her sleeve, given her calm demeanour.

At this point, Rook has grown absolutely fed up with this city and everything and everyone in it, so we choose the snappy dialogue option. Rook tells Felicia to please just get on with whatever secret weapon she has stashed away so that we can finally fight each other.

Felicia reveals her staff, the tip of which shows a large glass crystal filled with blood. A few side doors open, and a bunch of slaves enter, who have already undergone the blood collar procedure. Now, they are all controlled by Felicia, and she orders them to attack us.

This is the first phase of the boss fight, in which all we do is go against the controlled slaves. Neve will immediately take note of the glyphs on the ground, urging us to activate them when the slaves are above them. We do so, and paralysation glyphs are triggered, immobilising the slaves. This is a little gimmick of this fight, where we can, with increased difficulty, trigger paralysis glyphs and get rid of the slaves in a non-lethal manner, until Felicia herself is dealt with.

Once all the slaves are taken care of, one way or another, Felicia herself joins the fray and attacks us with her full power. She is an accomplished blood and fire mage and unleashes spell after spell without really allowing us many breaks in between.

At some point, if any of the slaves are still alive, she will attempt to drain them of their blood to heal herself. We have a few seconds to prevent her from doing that by unleashing all manner of counterattacks. If we fail to stop her and she does this at least three times, she will turn into an abomination, making the last stage of the fight additionally difficult. If we defeat her like that, she is killed no matter what.

For this playthrough, let’s say we’ve been good with our timing and managed to save all slaves from her blood draining. By the third time she attempts this, we shatter her staff and deal an ultimate blow that knocks her off her feet, ending the fight.

Since she is not an abomination in this outcome, we now get a choice. Neve urges to keep her alive so that we may extract further information from her. But we look at the slaves and what she did to them and find our anger rising. Here’s the choice:

Keep Felicia alive and hand her over for questioning.

Kill her and end any threat that could ever come from her for good.

Rook sees the temptation of just murdering Felicia on the spot, but she also sees the reason in letting her live. With great reluctance, we agree with Neve. Similar to Kavlo, Neve freezes Felicia, imprisoning her until she can be questioned later.

Before we leave, we get a chance to explore Felicia’s study. What we find is a ledger detailing many recent slave purchases and where they were sent to. We decide to take the book with us and hand it over to the Shadow Dragons.

Leaving the Erimond Estate

Once we reach the main hall of the Erimond Estate, the doors open and in walk Varric, Harding, Rana, Brom, and a few Imperial Templars led by Tarquin and Knight-Captain Jahvis, whom we remember from Tevinter Nights. Since Rook is not a Shadow Dragon in this playthrough, this is our first introduction to Tarquin.

After a quick explanation of what transpired, we line up the frozen Venatori, Kavlo and Felicia first among them, which gets a whistle from Varric, who is surprised at how many deaths we managed to avoid.

We now have a choice at what to do with the Venatori:

Do we give them to the Imperial Templars? Doing so will ensure they get put into the most secure prisons, and all of Minrathous will know of their fate. However, it may also enable corrupt Templars to release them once again.

Do we give them to the Shadow Dragons? Doing so will ensure that they will disappear from the face of Minrathous and be held captive in the Undercity. However, this will put the remaining Venatori on higher alert and prompt more thorough searches for the Shadow Dragons.

We don’t really want to risk them being freed again, so we give them over to the Shadow Dragons, alongside the ledger and the freed slaves.

All in all, this mission has proven to be rather fruitful in terms of the yielded results.

Back in the Shadow Lair

We are back in the Shadow Lair and deliver our mission report to Maevaris, who is very much pleased with the outcome. With the freed slaves, the ledger, and the imprisoned Venatori, the Shadow Dragons now have their work cut out for them for the next few weeks.

Neve reunites with Varric and Harding, whom she remembers from the Missing comic. She asks if the job she’s about to be hired for concerns the Dread Wolf, which Varric confirms. Well, this time, Neve is ready to give it a shot by joining directly. Rook has proven herself a capable ally to rely upon, whose heart and mind are also in the right places.

With Neve recruited, we leave the Shadow Dragons for now, returning to Isabela on the Silence, which takes us back to the Dumat.

Back on the Dumat

We find ourselves back on the Dumat, with Neve Gallus as our new party member. Neve marvels at the sheer ingenuity by which this underwater submarine has been constructed. She expected the Inquisition to not have many resources left after its disbanding, but it appears she was wrong. She very much looks forward to seeing how this mission will play out.

From this moment on, Neve counts as one of our party members and can be found in a new area on the Dumat.

The Study

With Neve now a member of our crew, we can access the ship’s study. It is located not far away from the meeting chamber and hosts several desks and boards to gather and display clues and evidence.

We find Neve there, who has made the place her own already. She commends the Dumat on being so active and silent at the same time, allowing her to fully focus on the evidence she’s studying.

Aside from being able to converse with Neve here, the room also introduces a fun little mechanic: We can track all of our choices and how they connect to outcomes and impacts further along. It’s all on display like one of those detective boards where all the dots and threads are, in some way, connected.

We also find a memory crystal here, brought from the Shaperate in the Dwarven Embassy. This allows us to replay missions, although we won’t be able to make any different choices, since this is meant to be just a memory of what we did.

Alternative Origins

Some of you wanted to see this, so here it is. Whenever I write about the progress of a main mission, I shall include a little peek into alternative timelines, where we play as one of the other five origin stories, to showcase how certain aspects might be different.

These won’t be overly long entries. They just serve to give a glimpse of what might have been. Our main Rook is still Ashara of the Veil Jumpers.

Shadow Dragons

Rook would be instantly familiar with Minrathous and how to get to the Shadow Lair.

Maevaris would recognise Rook immediately and much of the faction’s trust in us would be already secured.

Rook can flaunt his status as a member of the Mercar family at the bar, and that he is the reason they’re about to be Laetan. Besides that, he has ties to the Legions and could make sure these Venatori get an unwelcome surprise at one point.

There is a third option to get to the Erimond Estate: Our Mercar can persuade one of the legionnaires in Hightown to let him participate in the parade, using it as a disguise to get closer to the estate.

Neve obviously recognises Rook from the prologue mission and instantly trusts him as a capable partner.

Grey Wardens

Rook can offer the freed slaves the chance to join the Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt Fortress.

Antivan Crows

Rook can convince the Shadow Dragons to make Felicia Erimond a Crow contract, earning reputation for the Crows and getting some extra gold in the process.

Mourn Watchers

Rook can summon spirits to inhabit some of the dead Venatori to create the illusion of the Erimond Estate still being occupied. This is only possible as a mage Mourn Watcher.

Lords of Fortune

Rook can raid some of Felicia’s belongings and sell them to a Lords of Fortune contact in Minrathous, earning the crew of the Dumat a significant amount of extra coin.

The Next Mission

Now that we have successfully recruited Neve Gallus, we have one other mission left, as you may remember: the time has come to travel back to Arlathan Forest and recruit Bellara Lutare! And we shall look at that next time. Stay tuned!

[star-mom-selkie]

ive been driving so much lately that a new part of my body is starting to fall apart. my right shoulder. im very scared of how long i have until my disability progresses further. will i need a wheelchair? how much longer will i be able to drive? will a doctor prescribe me anything more than exercise? im doing the best i can but that becomes less and less every day. please, continue to support me and help me support my polycule.. anything helps.

v3nmo c@shapp k0fi

[artemiss-favorite-hunter]

hey! I already am I told you. I've been talking toMr. D and Artemis. I know coping mechanisms now, and what to do if someone's having a panic attack

Y'know, dad's only helped me twice. Ever. And once was treegate. The whole time I struggled on the streets he ignored me or sent a goat to lead me to danger

Hey hey hey no. Reyna's happier than ever. You aren't being egotistical, but she didn't join because of you. She was sick of the preassure of running a camp and everyone trying to find her a partner. Hey, we're fine. We do talk to men sometimes to get outside opinions. Jase, Nico was about 9 at the time, and he was fully dependent on Biana, and he felt abandoned and left out. I suppose I've remade the hunters a bit though as I've been in charge

Just let you die??? Just let you die?????? NEVER!!!!!!(the paper is ripped here, torn by the pencil with the force of her conviction) Jason No One Gave Either Of Us A Middle Name Grace, have you gone absolutely INSANE??? (Again the paper is ripped, and continues to be ripped) I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO JUST LET YOU DIE YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME YOU ARE MY BABY BROTHER I COULD NEVER NOT TRY MY BEST TO TAKE CARE OF YOU EVEN AS I KNOW ILL FAIL (tears stain the paper)

Same. Percy and I were pretty evenly matched, but that was years ago. It would certainly be an interesting fight

Yup, told you I'm working on it!

I told you, I didn't bet!

holy hera your so right

the gods have nothing to do with my decision to exercise restraint, thank you very much /j

yup, that's the one! Tell her your a freind of Percy's. He showed her not all men are bad

YES YES YES ARE THERE MONKEY BARS I LOVE MONKEY BARS

hey, little bro,

sorry it took me so long to write you a letter

i just wanted to say hi

how are you doing?

@artemiss-favorite-hunter

(sent after death)

THALIA!

It's okay! I know you're busy with the hunters of di- I mean Artemis.

Hi :) I'm doing good. It's you guys I'm worried about.

[qaanngi]

WIP Wednesday 🐦‍⬛🥊🐦‍⬛🥊

[gorillawithautism]

shout out to all the disabled people whose disability is partially or entirely their "fault." everyone who's struggling as a result of their own behavior, everyone who was disabled by events that could have been avoided if they'd made different choices, everyone who isn't actively working to make their situation "better" or more bearable. we are just as disabled and just as worthy of love and compassion as anyone else. regardless of what the able bodied people around might think. regardless of what our own minds may tell us

[drumlincountry]

Fwiw I know i'm not going to live to 100 because even tho there are some genetic freaks in my family (grandmother & her siblings lived to like 90), to reach 100 you do have to turn into leather. Leather body, leather soul. I don't have it in me. I'm just not a fixated obsessive. i'm a fluid obsessive. I will not be getting up at 8am to do calesthenics every morning I will continue with my 3am blogging. And yes I am bull headed, iron willed, but not like that leathery old French anti-communist. I'm too receptive to....the world. You don't get to 100 by being receptive in the world. You get there by being an entitled prick.

[saysflora]

Even the great Jack Kelly isn't immune to sickness every once in a while, no matter what he likes to say. This time around, though, he'd made the rookie mistake of fainting in front of David, and is suffering the consequences by being held captive in the Jacobs' apartment until they deem him better.

Actually, it might not be all that bad.

OR: Jack gets sick and recovers in the Jacobs' apartment, with no small amount of tomfoolery.

[mixtapedoh]

the amazing, showstopping, incredible @musicallisto enables me daily <3333

for your consideration <3; you may now rest soundly in the knowledge that i am, in all things, correct.

[perunatie]

I have been very unhappy with myself lately

Mostly with my appearance

I met my substitute nurse yesterday and she's also a therapist and I told her I feel bad about myself, so she did a couple of quick tests with me and then did a therapeutic excercise to help me boost my confidence

It did help! It reminded me of my good qualities and I'm feeling better when it comes to that

But my appearance is my biggest issue right now. I really dislike the length of my hair, it's way too short for me to be happy and I can't style it to look nice

I put a platinum toner on my hair in hopes it'd correct the piss yellow bleached blonde I had but it dyed my hair dark blonde instead. Which I don't really mind, it's very cute and does look better than what it was previously.

But now that I can't wear makeup anymore I feel so sad. I don't know how to dress up. I'm very lost with myself when it comes to my looks.

I'm feeling very down again and that upsets me. I've just been laying down on the couch staring at the ceiling.

[sysig]

Lost my mind thinking about the Vyer Estate (Patreon)

[esleep]

i am so tired of being out of shape but i have no idea how to fix this. someone should invent exercise that doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the head.

[quatregats]

Having a real "*freeze frame**record scratch* oh hey it's me you might be wondering how I ended up here" kind of moment rn

[ourceliumnetwork]

took the calculated risk of going out and meandering around town and looking through shops. in some ways i enjoy the throbbing ache of used muscles and bones as i rest. in other ways i hate it because i know as soon as i move it's going to intensify to Extreme Pain and i've already had the max amount of medicine i can take right now, and can't take any more for another 2.5-3 hours.