#I initially decided to do the fight on devil hunter as practice

[redhotarsenic]

I forgot how to fight berial btw!

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Narriseminek, the Crownless

Chaotic Neutral Protean Cantor of Ascendance, Keketars, and Revelations

Domains: Chaos, Knowledge, Liberation, Madness Subdomains*: Protean, Education, Self-Realization, Truth

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 14

Obedience: Surround yourself in a burning circle of flames at least 5 feet out from where you stand, chanting prayers until the flames burn down to coals or smoke from any source harms you. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saves against fire-based spells and attacks.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals)

Hope you remember to bring oil and tinderboxes! And remember to practice fire safety, because this Obedience is a real good way to burn down an entire house. Or forest. There’s also the worrying detail that this Obedience requires you to wait until the fires burn down to the coals, suggesting that a ring of oil or grease will NOT, in fact, satisfy the conditions of the ritual. That’s a real chin-scratcher to me, and though my Rules-Fu may be weak, I can see how a more exacting DM might force their players to jump through hoops (or into them as the case may be). Do you have to lug around wood or paper and burn it? Can ‘smoke from any source’ come from a cigarette or stick of incense you have nearby? Does the Obedience end early if a freak gust blows ash into your face? Questions, questions.

Also don’t ignore the fact that standing in a ring of fire while chanting ominously is incredibly suspicious and you probably shouldn’t do it in a location someone can barge into, especially a Good someone. Or a Paladin someone. Or a Devil-hunter someone. In fact, it’s really hard to do this Obedience regularly without seeming like you might soon plot to sacrifice babies, so you might want to warn your party ahead of time that no, you don’t worship Asmodeus, you worship a different flaming serpent! ... Wait, Asmodeus isn’t a serpent in Pathfinder, scratch that last line.

As for the benefit, nothing we haven’t seen before. Nothing special, nothing grand. Fire is the most common damage type, so this ability WILL come up often and it’ll save you a lot of HP, and for that it has my applause. It’s just not exciting in any other way. I’m a little concerned that it doesn’t say “fire-based spells and abilities,” but “attacks,” but that could just be me being picky about language and wording. It comes in handy when dealing with fae, but it makes me paranoid everywhere else!

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Ascended. Gain Anticipate Peril 3/day, Detect Thoughts 2/day, or Heroism 1/day.

Oooh, not bad! Three decent spells! Anticipate Peril gives the target a +5 bonus to Initiative for one combat, and as I’ve said before, Initiative is one of the best stats you can have bonuses to. Heroism gives +2 to arguably more important stats, though, in saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls. It also lasts for a phenomenally long time--a whole 10 minutes per level! It’s a pretty good boost for the beatstick of your party, but I’m not sure if it’s worth giving up on boosting up to three people’s Initiative (or one person’s Initiative three times). It depends on how many attacks your local DPS can throw out in a round, I suppose, or if your team is made up of the more fragile sorts who’d give their left arms to move first. Do note that Anticipate Peril only works for one initiative roll before fizzling, but Herosim’s lengthy duration means it will likely last through multiple fights, so scouting is essential if you want to use AP!

Detect Thoughts is something we’ve covered before, and though it technically only has niche use, it’s invaluable against enemies who’re holding information you need or sifting through crowds for specific individuals who’s thinking about how bad it would be if you found them. It’s powerful when you NEED it, but Anticipate Peril and Heroism are useful in the many battles that come with Pathfinder’s adventures.

Boon 2: Crownless Crown. You gain a floating halo of Protean symbols around your head. 1/day, you may use the Reshape Reality ability of the Keketar Protean, heightened to a 7th level spell instead of 9th; this means you may cast Mirage Arcana as a spell-like ability, except all of the illusions are woven with Maelstrom matter and become partially (20%) real, even to disbelievers, and the DC to see through the illusion is 17+your Charisma modifier.

CHAOS!

CHAOS!!

I CAN DO ANYTHING!!!

Have you ever thought to yourself “this battlefield is really nice, but I would prefer to be anywhere else”? Have you ever found yourself wishing you were on a nice beach while in the middle of a dungeon, or that this jungle would look better as a desert, or that this desert could use a giant glacier smack in the middle of it? Then have I got an ability for you!

Reshape Reality can overlay one 20ft square per level with terrain of your choice, and here’s some math for you: a 20ft square is 4x4 tiles, which means you affect 16 tiles per level. If you’re level 14 when you first get this ability, that means fourteen 20ft squares are yours to command, or 224 tiles. Numbers are good and all, but how about a visual demonstration?

(Green: You. Blue: unfortunate enemy)

BAM! That’s one configuration you can throw it down in. It affects a LOT of terrain, basically letting you decide if the current room is to your liking. You can also throw it down in a long line or loop to form a ‘cage’ for yourself and your enemies, or form an enormous barrier to cut a swath between enemy forces. Like many illusion spells, Mirage Arcana is best used by someone with a good imagination... But even the most unimaginative sorts can still cause an environment to turn itself into pure acid or magma. Whoever fails their save against the illusion takes 5d6 damage from hazards you manifest, while disbelievers still take 1d6 because of its semi-real nature. 

You can also do some fancy things like creating a small stony labyrinth or even just whip up some cover for yourself and your allies if you so desire. And there’s nothing saying that every square has to be the same environment, either! Go nuts! This is one of the most powerful battlefield control abilities you can get! ... Provided your allies are away that reality is an illusion.

Also, I think it’s really cute that you get a floaty rune crown like all the Proteans. Makes it real hard to hide what you are and what you’re worshiping, though, so watch out!

Boon 3: Mantle of Revelation. 1/day, you can cast Foresight as a spell-like ability.

For those who’ve never used it, Foresight is a level 9 spell that lasts 10 minutes per level. Mechanically, it grants the recipient a +2 to AC and Reflex saves, and prevents the recipient from ever being surprised or flat-footed. At high levels, robbing an enemy of a surprise round can mean the difference between someone outright dying to a Sneak Attack or a spell thrown from out of sight, making this spell a life-saver... Though not a level 9 lifesaver. Such a feat could easily be replicated by a level 7 or 8 spell, allowing more crunch to be packed into this Boon, right? AC is nice and all, but...

You know what else is nice? These little portions:

“Once Foresight is cast, you receive instantaneous warnings of impending danger or harm to the subject of the spell.”

Don’t open the chest, don’t drink that potion, don’t sample the cheese, don’t take another step forward, don’t say the next words you’re planning, don’t cast that spell, don’t don’t don’t... Foresight stops a LOT of incoming harm in its tracks, allowing you to step back just as an arrow flies at your face, or stop your foot just before stepping on a landmine, or re-evaluate your attack target if forewarned of some sort of defense they have. You can even cast it on someone else to give them the same benefit... so long as you’re within earshot. You need to be able to communicate with them in some way to grant them the warnings, making it more attractive to cast on yourself than another, unless you have some form of telepathic connection with the second subject.

And speaking of second subjects, here’s the other interesting portion:

“The spell gives you a general idea of what action you might take to best protect yourself and gives you a +2 insight bonus to AC and on Reflex saves.”

And gives you a +2 insight bonus. Why’s that important? Because it means ‘general idea of what action you might take’ does NOT directly lead to this insight bonus, but is in addition to it. Foresight’s greatest power relies a bit on DM fiat, which is painful if they aren’t super open to discussion of the spell’s minutiae, but elaborated on and discussed beforehand with the DM will allow you to solve encounters MUCH more smoothly than normal. Say, perhaps, the enemy has a Scroll of Disintegrate on them that no one has seen yet. Foresight may warn you ahead of time to bolster your Reflex save even further, or somehow strengthen your touch AC. You don’t know WHY you’re receiving this warning, but all will become apparent in time.

Foresight warns you not to open a door, but you must to progress. The spell then warns you to protect yourself from Fire damage, and you can extrapolate from there. Or perhaps it tells you to draw your weapons and prepare your spells as you walk down an otherwise empty hallway, just before you’re ambushed.

Really, Foresight is a far more powerful spell than many give it credit for because so much of its power relies on interpretation and the DM working with the fact you can see danger coming at least six seconds before it happens. See? Me being ridiculously careful about interpretations of wording worked out in everyone’s favor for once!

You can read more about Narri here.

[thorne93]

Inexplicable Fate (Part 23)

Prompt: When a blinding pain overtakes you at work, what will be in store for your life when you run into the Winchesters and learn Lucifer’s son is about to be born?

Warning: Language, pain, angst, violence, fighting (verbal and physical)…fear of insanity??

Word Count: 1577

Notes: This is for @roxyspearing gif challenge. It’s a Jack x Reader fic (so Season 12 and 13 spoilers) Long, slow burn, (a little slow paced at first).

(This part is NOT beta’d. Just wanted y’all to get this. I couldn’t wait! ^.^)Thanks to @like-a-bag-of-potatoes for letting me badger the dickens out of her though. I couldn’t do it without you darling.

Forever Tags: @capsmuscles @cocosierra94 @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification @thejemersoninferno @rda1989 @munlis @thefridgeismybestie @bubblyanarocks3 @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @hardcollectionworldtrash @igiveupicantthinkofausername@kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr @kaeling @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo

IF Tags: @iamafishandigosplish @myfamilysincarolina @ilovemyangelforever @kazuha159 @bisexualdolphinthings @mysteriouslydeliciouswerewolf @justiceiswater @millard-our-savior @polkadottedpillowcase  @hunter-demigod-timelord @octo-cow52 @damnedangel98 @bad-moose @weirdoblogger69

Dean Winchester: @akshi8278 @mogaruke

Sam Winchester: @mogaruke @lenawiinchester

Castiel: @lenawiinchester

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11  Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22

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“Because I want to!” you shouted.

“And I don’t!” Jack yelled back.

The two of you were arguing about your views on Michael.

Once you had gotten over the initial shock of finding out Michael was your displaced father, Castiel had told you in passing that Michael was a good angel at heart but sometimes misguided. At this, you began peppering him with a million questions.

Dean and Sam seemed uncomfortable with the idea of you wanting to know about him, which was understandable, as your and Jack’s angelic fathers fought over them (or more specifically, their bodies). So you and Cas talked when they weren’t around. Dean had tried to steer you away from all things Michael when you inquired what it was like when he met him. Dean had called him a “psychotic douche with a monstrous ego”. But despite all of that, he’d let it slip that Michael was in the cage in Hell, where Lucifer had been.

Jack was able to open a portal to Hell as if he were one in a box, you knew you’d be able to open the a hole for Michael to come out of, so you could meet him, talk to him, learn about him. That’s what got you and Jack to this argument now. The two of you had been fighting about this on and off for three days.

“Why do you want to meet him?” he demanded, clearly frustrated. “Why?”

“Because he’s practically my father. It’s because of him I have this power.”

“So? It’s because of Lucifer I have mine, but you don’t see me running to him!”’

“That’s a little different, Lucifer is Satan after all,” you spat callouslly.

“What’s saying your father is any better? You heard Dean, he isn’t a good person. He isn’t to be trusted. He hurt Sam and Dean, and killed Cas. Lucifer, Michael, all of them. They’re not to be trusted. If Lucifer is off the table for me to talk to, Michael is too.”

“What the hell? That’s just it? So because you’re father is the fucking Devil, and you can’t spend quality time with him, you’re forbidding me to meet mine?”

“I’m not forbidding you,” Jack stated, frustration in his tone. “I’m asking you. I’m begging you, to not open that cage. Why would you want to meet him anyway?”

“I just...I want to. I need to,” you said.

“Why do you need to?” he stressed. “Am I not good enough? Are we not good enough for you anymore?” Jack asked, heartbreak in his voice and face.

You sighed. “No. That’s not it. I just want to know...to know what this all means. I want to know what he thinks about this whole angel baby business. I want to know if he thinks I should do it and what’s in store for me.”

Jack shook his head. “I thought we settled this. I thought...I thought you didn’t want to decide anything yet?”

“Not today, but Jack...We need to know. I don't want us to keep putting this off just because we’re worried or scared or unsure of what having children would mean for us,” you explained with exhaustion.

“You know exactly what Michael is going to tell you. He’s going to tell you to go through with it, otherwise he wouldn’t have mated with your ancestor.”

“Maybe not though. Maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe he had another reason.”

Jack peered at you with a peculiar face. “But why do you have to find out from him? I’m your boyfriend. I’m your partner. If you’re going to discuss us having children, it should be with me. You should be talking with me...Not...not him.” The sorrow that cocooned his expression and voice nearly broke your heart.

“Jack, I….I didn’t think of that,” you confessed, reaching for him, but he pulled away. “Jack?” you said with hurt in your voice.

“I...I need some time,” he quietly said before leaving your room, leaving you feeling completely broken.

Hot tears streaked down your face immediately as you turned and sat on your bed, bawling your eyes out. You and Jack never fought, and now you were screaming at each other, all because of this stupid fucking prophecy.

Hours went by as you cried and cried, all of the tension from lately coming to a head. The prophecy, trying to find Mary, still balancing control of your powers, missing your real family. It all seemed like too much. And now….now you and Jack were at each other’s throats.

All you wanted to do was to meet Michael. You weren’t sure why. You just had a draw to him, a pull to him. Jack had never met Lucifer, but he admitted Lucifer had tried to reach out to him, so he’d at least heard his voice. For you, you just thought Michael couldn’t be all that bad. He was the righteous sword of God, right? Well, according to your new family you were dead wrong. And while you had wanted to respect their wishes, you wanted them to respect yours.

Maybe it was a bad idea to bring Michael up to the surface. Or maybe it was a great idea. You really had no idea, but Jack attacking you for wanting it, made you feel hurt and betrayed. Yet, he was right. Why were you wanting to talk to your angel father when you needed to be having the conversation with Jack.

The fact that you were shutting him out on something he really needed to be a part of, made you feel terrible. No wonder Jack was pissed at you. You basically said his feelings and opinions were invalid when it came to the topic of him fathering your children.

It was past midnight when you checked your phone, so you got your teeth brushed, took a shower, and climbed into bed, hoping sleep would erase this awful day. Just as you were about to drift off, something weighed the bed down behind you. An arm wrapped around your waist, as you could feel Jack’s breath on your neck.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered before kissing the back of your neck.

“Is it always going to be like this?” you asked into the darkness as you faced away from him.

“Like what?” he quietly cooed.

“Now that we know….Now that we know our father’s hated each other, is their hatred going to flow into us?” you questioned, your chest clenching with dread from the answer.

He was quiet for a long time, so you continued.

“My veins flow with the blood of Michael's, and for better or worse, you’re Lucifer’s son. Michael damned your father to Hell. Could the same resentment still exist in both of us? Is that why we’re fighting now?”

“No,” he answered confidently.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m fighting you because I want to protect you,” he explained. A moment of quietness passed between you before he decided to explain further. “I’m not telling you to not break Michael out because I’m trying to hurt you or control you. I would never do that, love,” he said before kissing the side of your neck again. “I want you to be happy. I just don’t think...I don’t think letting your father out would be a good idea. According to our family, he’s not to be trusted, just like Lucifer. I wouldn’t want you to break him out, just to find out he’s hellbent on you having our angel children.”

You pressed your lips into a flat line as you thought.

Jack continued to explain his reasoning. “You’re right. Lucifer and Michael do hate each other, but it’s because they’re both so tunnel visioned, it’s insane. Michael will do whatever God wants, and Lucifer will do whatever Lucifer wants. Both of them being out of the cage is a recipe for disaster. We can’t let him out. He’s not stable, and even if we got him out and talked to him, what then? What would we do once we were done talking? Would he seek out Lucifer and start yet another Apocalypse?”

He took your silence as a sign of admitting you had no flipping clue what would happen after you let him out. You were merely transfixed on getting him out and talking to him. But everything he was saying was right.

“I don’t know about letting Michael out of the cage. I don’t know what he would do or say or be like. I don’t know any of that. I can only go on what our family tells us and what my instincts tell me. I don’t have all the answers, I know that. But I am willing to work with you to figure them out, instead of going to our wayward fathers to do so. That’s all I ask of you, to turn to me, and no one else in your time of need.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, you turned around and cupped his face to kiss him. The action took him aback, as he seemed frozen for a moment, but before long, melted into your touch without question. The two of you kissed hard, passionately, as if it would be the last thing on Earth you did.

Breaking away, breathless, Jack asked, “What was that for?”

“For being you. For being your amazing...perfect self,” you responded with a small grin.