#Libraribear games

[libraribear]

Took Me Long Enough

After roughly a month, I've finally decided on a character to actually try and progress through Baldur's Gate 3 with. Meet Corf Small-Friend, the Big Bard, the Gentle Giant, and friend to the Small-Folk. He's smarter, wiser, and more charismatic than he lets on, but most of the time his demeanor is not unlike that of a big, friendly dog - he's so big that most things just don't bother him. Just lookit this face!

Also he's fucking huge, so huge that I'm automatically entertained no matter the cut-scene.

You can be as angry or as mean as you need to be, Lae'zel. Corf still loves his new smol friend and understands we're all stressed.

Corf loves his other new smol friend too, even if he has to be careful not to shake her too hard when he tries to wake her up. Everyone else is so small and delicate!

[inner-muse]

About me

Tagged a while ago by @princessvicky01 and @dismalzelenka (and @silent-of-spirit tagged everyone who wanted to!) thank you lovelies!!! ❤️

a - age: 25

b - birthplace: Massachusetts

c - current time: 12 noon exactly

d - drink you last had: just water

e - easiest person to talk to: My mom

f - favorite song: uh, either something from the Homestuck discography or the Trespasser soundtrack

g - grossest memory: Euuugh. Welp it asks for gross, so... I had a stomach bug a couple years ago which had both vomiting and diarrhea as symptoms. One of the times I woke up in the night, I had to clean the bathroom floor cause I was dribbling at both ends at once. >.<

h - horror yes or horror no: Horror sometimes. I like written stuff, but not so keen on movies or immersive games.

i - in love?: Nope

j - jealous of people?: Sometimes jealous of people on tumblr who get lots of activity...

l - love at first sight or should i walk by again?: Infatuation at first sight, at least!

m - middle name: Elizabeth

n - number of siblings: one older sister

o - one wish: That everyone would just be decent to each other

p - person you called last: takeout delivery guy

q - question you are always asked: can’t think of any offhand

r - reason to smile: Art is pretty

s - song you sang last: I had jingle bells stuck in my head yesterday

t - time you woke up: about 8, and then I went back to sleep till 11

u - underwear colour: you’ll pry my 57 pairs of plain white granny panties from my cold, dead hands

v - vacation destination: Switzerland

w - worst habit: hitting snooze too many times

x - x-rays: just the usual dental stuff

y - your favourite food: Chocolate!!!

z - zodiac sign: Libra. Unless we’re talking the homestuck extended zodiac, in which case it’s Librius. Yes, I’m still a homestuck. Deal with it.

Tagging @dracoangel @libraribear @mistralrunner @kaoruyogi @kawereen @uriellactaea @dragongirl028 @effelants

[libraribear]

…Because of course I already rerolled my BG3 character a few hours in. I’m ME, after all. I couldn’t resist the allure of the Ranger and the weapon play of the early game was so fun that I wanted a sneaky character who would be better at it than a Knowledge Cleric masquerading as a thief. 😅

[libraribear]

So I bought the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters and thus far have been enjoying the nostalgia trek. However, I can also appreciate the new, and though I have not actually played Stranger of Paradise, I am an ardent consumer of the memes and the cutscenes. I'm probably in the minority but whether you believe the game is badly written or not, I think it's brilliantly entertaining.

With that in mind, I fixed the Lich fight.

[libraribear]

Unconventional Entertainment

My three-year old hopped in my lap while I was playing World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth last night. Playtime immediately shifted from a quest to KILL ALL THE THINGS to a fun adventure of exploration in the jungles of Zandalar.

I’ll admit, since my feral Druid was closing in on a big Triceratops rip-off dinosaur that was a quest objective, it was a little hard shifting gears, but I couldn’t straight up murder the triceratops my son was so excited about in front of him, could I? Instead we stealthed around the jungle for about twenty minutes enjoying the scenery and seeing how many different dinosaurs he could find, and it was really fun. I should write a nice note to the Blizzard art people through their feedback, because it was a really fun bonding moment and it was also really nice to check out the visuals and things - I’m not the most visual of people so I don’t always stop to smell the roses and appreciate all the work that goes into that game.

TLDR: Sometimes just walking around Azeroth can be as fun as pwning it, and it resulted in a really cute moment with my son. I took some screenshots of our journey.

(I just hope he doesn’t think Apatosaurus’ have spikes, or T-Rexs have funny horns. :P)

[libraribear]

The Great May PC Gaming Update

I haven’t posted anything for awhile - this is a busy time of year for me as the Academic Year winds to a close. However, I have still been dabbling in various entertainment related things... Warframe - After three years of prodding a friend got me to try this game and as far as third-person, loot-based, online cooperative shooters go it is pretty incredible. You’re basically a space ninja with tons of customizable Warframes (your characters, essentially), weapons, and other things to collect and everything is free except for additional Warframe and weapon and other inventory slots. You could even conceivably play the game without spending any real money by selling rare materials to other players for their real money based currency. I’ve never played Destiny or Destiny 2, but if you’ve touched the online shooter genre and you’re PO’ed that games stop developing, well, Warframe has been continually updated for five years and appears to still be going strong. It’s the rare Free 2 Play game where I’ve actually bought some in-game currency just to support the devs for giving me such a fantastic free experience. Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age Inquisition - Baldur’s Gate continues to jockey with Dragon Age: Inquisition for my offline RPG experience. Sooner or later I’ll get finished with it and go back to Inquisition - this time with a mandate from a friend to GET OUT OF THE HIGHLANDS (I think he meant Hinterlands). I’m currently playing a Bard named Frendle. He stabs things with two daggers. 

World of Warcraft - I’m still planning on diving back into WoW once the academic year is over in preparation for Battle for Azeroth. The great druid Cistern and friends should ride again! 

[libraribear]

Hey! It’s time for...  another Baldur’s Gate Character

To date in my Baldur’s Gate 2 Renaissance, I’ve only actually made it to the Throne of Bhaal Expansion once this year, with my Paladin, Nordred. This is largely because I made BG, BG2, and Throne of Bhaal into the Baldur’s Gate Trilogy using a mod, and downloaded the phenomenal Baldur’s Gate 1 NPC Project pack mod which fleshes out all the largely flavorless NPCs in BG 1. (Flavorless probably isn’t the best word, but in 2 they have plenty of spoken dialogue, both in the form of voiced lines and banter, reaction to quests, etc. - Baldur’s Gate 2 is really to me the first Bioware game that starts to feel in that sense like Dragon Age and Mass Effect today. Baldur’s Gate 1 was also fantastic, but other than the extremely rare comment from your NPC party members, they just don’t...  talk. About anything. 

Enter this mod which makes all of that better. For fan-related stuff the writing is very good too. It feels natural to me - although to be fair - the developers truly didn’t give the fan-writers a ton to go on in Baldur’s Gate 1. Thus I’m sure someone’s headcanon or interpretation of a character is dashed by the pack. Still, long story short, very very good.

It also adds three new romances and, to me at least, greatly enhances the replayability of Baldur’s Gate 1, which I will shamefully admit, before this pack, was my chore game: I play it but I mainly play it to get a fully experienced character to Baldur’s Gate 2.

I’m sorry Mortimer. (Dragon Age Inquisition char) I’ll get back to you eventually, I promise.

In the meantime though, we have...

Grenn Wildson - Half-Orc - Fighter/Thief

To say that Grenn had a rough childhood would be an understatement. Before being adopted as Gorion’s Ward, he lived on the streets of Baldur’s Gate - where he routinely had to fight for his food. Half-orcs being a rarity in Baldur’s Gate, he was billed as the “man-child” and forced to fight teenagers in illegal fighting rings: until an adversary to his handlers found out that he was in fact a half-orc. Grenn was forced to run for his life at around the same time Gorion was looking for him, and spirited the nine-year old to Candlekeep.

He found a fast friend in Imoen at Candlekeep. She tended to provide the brains while he provided the brawn in their childhood adventures - teaching him thieving and filching skills while he taught her how to fight. This friendship helped him suppress his more violent and survivalistic urges - whereas she stole for fun and curiosity, he had a hard time avoiding the idea that stealing and accumulating wealth represented security. Whereas he might respond to a slight with violence, thinking it a demand or threat to fight, she could defuse tensions with a quip and a smile. In short, they made a good team.

In those days, they had no idea just how seriously their teamwork would soon be tested...

[libraribear]

Best Quest Item Ever

Before I dive into Dragon Age: Inquisition, I’ve been enjoying a Bioware renaissance by playing one of my all-time favorite game series: the Baldur’s Gate Trilogy. It’s pretty interesting playing a game I enjoyed so much as a 13 year old through the eyes of a 34 year old, and it’s also been fun seeing how some of those Bioware things I’m so familiar with now get developed.

Anyway, I’m near the end of the first game, and I just completed the last section of the Expansion Pack, Tales of the Sword Coast. For those not in the know, without giving away too many spoilers, there’s a part that you do, and then once you’ve completed it, you can’t do any other quests from there. Or turn in any quest items. Hey, normally in an RPG this isn’t a big deal, right? You just drop that flower, or that gem, or maybe you shove that letter you can no longer get XP for in a trunk, right? What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

Well, shit.

[libraribear]

My One Problem With Most Bioware Romances I’ve Played

Disclaimer: I love Bioware romances. Also, I have yet to play Dragon Age Inquisition. I know for the most part they’ve gotten better than they were in the wee old days of Baldur’s Gate 2. That said, trying to be nice to Jaheira and Aerie (I’m romancing Jaheira this playthrough, but gosh Aerie makes it difficult) prompted this conversation with one of my best friends, who happens to be a games writer who’s done some work for Blizzard, among other places. She’s one of my go to for rants like this.

It’s... mildly NSFW, but I found it pretty hilarious.

---

Me: Hay

When you write for video games again, if you ever get on an RPG's staff

Can you force the writers to realize that not all relationships have to end by being an asshat to the person

Or maybe just maybe if you have two Love Interests they won't start fighting over you before you have a chance to choose one

I've got two romances going in Baldur's Gate 2 and I'm trying to let one down gently and my only option is basically "Your ideas are stupid, I don't care, don't talk to me person"

Them: Lol

I'll keep that in mind

Me: thanks

Them: but i know what you're talking about

on the other hand, if they figure it out, they should both go off and gossip about you like women would ACTUALLY do

and then warn the other women about you

Me: That would be amazing

You could get an e-mail from like

Kallo or something

"Hey Ryder, I heard Vetra and Cora talking about you. What does "two-timing asshole" mean? I'm not familiar with the vernacular.

Them: LOL

(in reference to Asari) "this is why my species in monogendered"

"don't have to put up with MEN"

"and their STUPID"

Me: Kallo: PS what’s a penis? They said when you smile you look like one

Them: "Do humans carry their genitalia on their heads? I thought they were crotch mounted, but Cora keeps calling you a 'dickhead,' so I MUST be wrong, right? Sorry if that's a personal question... It's not like... a genetic malformity, is it? Oh dear, I shouldn't have asked. If it makes you feel better, I have a weird mole on my cloaca..."

[libraribear]

Dadd Cadash: A Prologue

I wrote a prologue for my Dragon Age: Inquisition character while trying to capture his voice. I’m not quite sure I succeeded, and it’s certainly rough around the edges as I haven’t written any fiction in a LONG time. Still, I can only let this one percolate and tweak it for so long.

It was midnight, and the guards were out in the city - one of many that dotted Thedas. Most of the city was already asleep, but one storefront was only now closing up shop. Locals referred to it as Jorgen’s Stop, but everyone who worked there referred to it as “the Castle”. Had anyone been paying close attention, they would have seen a peculiar trio of customers enter shortly before closing time. Two could only be dwarves, given their short, thick profiles, and the third would have been unrecognizable due to the black hood covering his eyes - but was probably a human, or perhaps an elf. The third figure was being supported by the other two.

It was local tradition that any building where the Carta primarily conducted business was referred to as the “Castle” or “Stronghold” or “Fortress”, essentially any word other than “run-down, nondescript building”, which was normal type of place the organization frequented on the surface.

At the entrance, a kind-looking, unscarred dwarven merchant was closing up shop for the night. It had been a slow day, with only a few general goods, one well-sharpened dagger, and two or three silk-lined burlap bags sold. The bags in particular were a specialty of the seamstresses that provisioned this particular shop - their inner linings had a peculiar way of securing Lyrium Dust As the storekeep swept the last of the day’s grime back onto the street, he peeked out the window, as he would normally do at least six times each day. He looked left, looked right, and, satisfied the street was clear, rapped his left heel against a very particular spot on the floor three times in quick succession.

The store was closing, but with the night’s patrol having gone past the store and not due back for at least four hours, it was time for real work to begin.

---

Following the signal, the two dwarves had gone to work in a small, torchlit room which was three floors deep in the earth. The only entry was a well-hidden trap door in one corner of the room’s ceiling. The room was sparsely furnished, save for a now three-legged chair, a rough-hewn table, and a foul-smelling elf. The elf was bound to the chair by the legs, waist, and neck, his hands shackled to the table. His unusually fine (for an elf) clothing was marred by blood, dirt, and sweat, and normally fine, shoulder length golden locks were plastered to the side of his face. The first dwarf, the one who had been carefully giving the elf most of the night’s attention, wrinkled his nose at the stench. The second had heard, seen, and smelled it all before, though he couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at his companion’s misgivings.

They had been able to mask the screams so deep beneath the earth, but they had been unable to do anything about the smell after the elf had wet himself with fear. The unfortunate soul had passed out, not in blissful slumber but in the grim sleep that one turns to only when their body can take no more pain - though repeated blows from a chair leg had contributed. If the elf awoke, he would have a tremendous headache.

The two dwarves observed the elf, one leaning forward and admiring his handiwork, the other with his arms crossed, guarding the door. The first dwarf had been working on the elf for hours, cajoling, encouraging, leering at, threatening, and finally beating him, but was now enjoying the silence. It had been a long night, and though they had not let on during the interrogation, the man’s will had indeed been strong in spite of his fear.

The first dwarf was exhausted - the second dwarf merely tired of waiting and watching. For a few more moments they stood, listening to the ragged gasps of the unconscious elf. There would be no rest until they had made their report to their superiors - but their superiors didn’t need to know the elf had passed out - yet.

The first dwarf, the one closest to the elf, had braided blonde-hair, fair skin, and deep-set green eyes that shined with his youth. He also possessed the beginning of what might one day be a grand beard. His fine black leathers were stained with a bit of the elf’s blood, but he leaned forward anyway, admiring his handiwork. If he had been afraid to get dirty, he would have found a longer club than the chair-leg he now held in his left hand - or perhaps another profession.

Though the welts on the sides of the elf’s head were painful, the youth was particularly proud of the elf’s hands, which were now a nasty combination of black, blue, and green, the majority of the unfortunate being’s slender fingers pointing in directions that nature had clearly not intended. It was the youth’s first interrogation.

“Virgin no more.” The youth murmured, trembling. He looked back at his dwarven counterpart, searching for approval, but the second dwarf’s face was a mask of calm. He turned back to the elf. “Didn’t I tell you I’d beat you bloody with part of your own chair if you didn’t tell me what we wanted to hear?”

Behind the youth, the second dwarf’s face gave way to an exaggerated roll of his blue-grey eyes. This dwarf was older, his face bearing the scars and marks of over three hard decades on the surface. Close-cut, dark brown hair made a ring around his otherwise bald head, before giving way to the full beard and mustache that occupied the lower half of his face. His left eye, though still quite functional, was marred by a deep, reddish-brown scar above and below his eye, and a faint tattoo of blocks and bars rested on his right cheek. If one was appropriately versed in the many markings of the many different guilds of the Carta, one would have recognized that this met he was an experienced hand in his guildhall, which belonged to a former thug named Sordri the Savage.

Unlike his youthful accomplice, the second dwarf’s leather was unmarred, and he was clad chiefly in an earth-brown cloak and loose-fitting, dark green breeches that had seen their share of the weather. Two daggers rested within easy reach at his sides, though several more were secured in the folds of his baggy sleeves, the pockets of his cloak, in tall boots that rose above his ankles, and affixed to his wrist in small sheaths.

He rested the palm of his left hand on his temple, bored with the whole affair, and traced a small scar that rested in front of his left ear. In his youth, it had served as a reminder of the perils of opening his mouth, but in his role as supervisor of his younger accomplice, he felt free to do so. Age and rank carried their privileges, after all.

“You SURE told him, Rinn. Breaking his fingers won’t get us paid.”

Rinn turned to him and grinned. “C’mon, Dadd. The boss won’t like it if you openly question his methods and motives. He always reminded me that physicality might be the best way to get someone to talk. How else do you think he got the name ‘the Savage?’”

“Might. In this case it didn’t. Remember he keeps me around ‘cause I’m the only one with the stones to question standard motives or methods, lad.” Dadd shrugged. “That, and because I’m good at keeping an eye on whelps like you. Physicality has its place, but you didn’t apply it correctly. Besides, he and I came up with ‘the Savage’ together over brews. Sordri Ternadirican was too much of a mouthful, but he didn’t want to be confused with that Sordri Aeducan fellow.”

Now the younger dwarf’s eyes rolled. “As if I needed keeping an eye on, ‘specially from an oldie like you. You saw - I did everything right, just like the boss taught. I tried it nice, I tried it mean, I went through the usual threats - even invented a few. Nothing could get him to talk.”

Dadd ignored the age crack. In reality, he was only ten years the youth’s senior - but in what was a very dangerous profession serving the Carta, ten years service might well have been forty.

“That’s because you didn’t give him enough time to think about whether or not his hidden coins were worth the array of promises you offered him. You just stacked them all on top of each other, one after the other.” Dadd explained. “When you start getting physical, you need to give him time to consider whether or not the pain he’s feeling is worth his information…  you also need to give him time to stop screaming before you break another finger, or you won’t get anything out of him. Treat your interrogations the way you’d treat a fine lover… Use patience. Savor these kinds of things… especially when you’re trying to accomplish a goal.”

“Didn’t need no savoring to accomplish my last few goals…” Rinn muttered.

Dadd didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah well, when you’re patient they might let you pay less to have your goals met.” He winked. “Don’t forget this lesson. Interrogation is about anticipation… and patience.”

“But boss wanted it done by midnight!” Rinn retorted, stubbornly eager to get the better of the discussion.

“Yeah, but you got yourself wrapped up on midnight, and that wasn’t the most important part of his statement. The most important part was that…” Dadd’s voice trailed off, and he crossed his arms while staring at Rinn expectantly.

The lad groaned. “...that Boss wanted it done. Maker’s arse.”

For the first time that night, Dadd allowed himself a smile. “Let’s not bring the Maker into your screw-up. These things happen, especially to greenies like you. Let’s go fetch some healing potions and we’ll let you try again tomorrow night - though those healing potions are coming out of your take today, you know.”

At the mention of his take, Rinn’s eyes darkened dangerously.

“Idiot.” Dadd thought to himself. “You forgot this one is all about the money.”

“My cut!” He hissed. “You greedy arse! The Boss said this interrogation was both of ours! IT should come out of your share as much as it should mine! Why, I oughta-” The younger dwarf brandished his club, and for a moment, Dadd admired the speed with which Rinn had snatched up his weapon as the youth stepped menacingly toward him. It reminded Dadd why he was so enamored with the kid’s potential in the first place - if only something could be done about that temper.

“Wait!” Dadd barked sharply. To his great surprise, Rinn did, a fact for which the elder dwarf was grateful - because he hated killing stupid when it had potential to grow. “Did I tell you to break his fingers?”

“No, but you could have stopped me! You should still pay some of your share as well.” Rinn took another step forward. Acting as if he was taken aback, Dadd took a step back and casually hooked his thumbs through his belt, though in the same motion he also disengaged the clasps on his wrist sheathes.

“We’ll have to work on those skills of observation too.” Dadd mentally noted. His voice trembled slightly, though it was still an act. “You feel really strongly about this, don’t you?”

“I do!” Rinn growled.

“Well, I-,” Dadd paused, and looked past the angry dwarf. “Oh look, the elf’s awake.”

“He is?” Rinn spun around, but found only confusion. The elf remained slumped over on the table, still unconscious.

Dadd’s first thrown dagger took Rinn in the right palm, and the club clattered to the floor. His second pinned Rinn’s left foot to the earth, and the youth’s voice, so menacing before, became a high-pitched shriek. Dadd lunged forward and stepped on the youth’s right foot, so that the youth’s only choice was to attempt to throw Dadd aside or tear his left foot away from the dagger. He did try just that, but the older dwarf grabbed the younger’s wrists. He leaned in close enough for Rinn to smell the ale and onions they’d had a scant few hours before on his breath.

Dadd’s voice was low and even, nearly a whisper. “Rule one. Never take your eyes off someone you’re threatening if they can still act.”

He ground his boot-heel into Rinn’s foot, eliciting a gasp of pain. He maintained the pressure as tears begain to rim Rinn’s eyes, then lifted his foot slightly and let go of Rinn’s bad hand.

“Get three potions, two for the elf, one for you.” He produced a few gold coins and pressed them into Rinn’s good hand. “Your take won’t cover them, so have some of mine. We’ll try again with this elf tomorrow, and if you ever threaten your superior again, I won’t be aiming for your hands or your feet. Got it?”

Rinn nodded meekly.

“Good. Now, hold still.” Dadd bent and retrieved his second dagger from Rinn’s foot, but he kept his eyes locked on Rinn’s the whole time. He was sorely tempted to give it an additional twist, but decided that the point had been made. Briefly, he regarded his first dagger, as Rinn tried to staunch the bleeding. He grabbed Rinn’s wrist. “Here. Hurts less if you don’t look at it.” He removed the dagger and took a few steps backward, continuing to stare at Rinn.

“Now, go get your potion and get yourself cleaned up.” He stepped aside, and Rinn began to hobble out of the room, clutching at his wounded limb.

“One more thing!” Dadd barked, and Rinn froze in the doorway. The elder dwarf took two confident steps forward and used the edge of Rinn’s black cloak to wipe the blood off his daggers. “These black clothes won’t do. Find something more casual. If you see someone dressed all in black on the city streets, you can’t help but look at him - and the richest purses to cut walk the streets during the day.” He clapped the youth on the shoulder, hard. “Now go.”

Rinn limped the rest of the way out of the room, and Dadd replaced his daggers in their sheathes. The youth glanced back at him once, as Dadd bore a hole through him with his gaze. When Rinn was finally out of his vision, Dadd brought one scarred hand to squeeze at his eyes, before taking a breath to calm himself. Hopefully this one would live long enough not to resent him for it, but to realize how swiftly he would have been killed had he drawn his weapon on anyone else.

A dwarf could dream. Steadying himself, Dadd left to give his report to their master. He had defused one situation. Now it would be time to defuse another. He hoped he wouldn’t need to draw his daggers to defuse this one, because if he did, he would probably be dead. He left to seek an audience with the Castle’s grandmaster.

---

Grandmaster Sordi wasn’t mad - Grandmaster Sordri was furious. Dadd had thought it might be so. He had told him about the failed interrogation, but not any of the other parts.

“Rinnium is a failure. It’s clear to me- why isn’t it clear to you, Daddarin? I told you that we needed an example, and to kill him if he didn’t get the elf to talk - this is his fourth foul-up.” He steepled his two bejeweled hands together. “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t kill him in front of all the other initiates tomorrow.”

Dadd put his hands on his hips, unswayed by his superior’s bluster. “I’ll give you three. One, the elf was weaker than we expected - you can’t pin that on young Rinn. If he were made of hardier stuff, he’d have stayed conscious long enough to tell us what we needed to know. Two, you and I both know we lost eight to the guard in that last Lyrium raid - you can GKKKKHHHH,” Dadd paused, drawing a finger across his neck for emphasis, “the lad if you want, but that still leaves you three in the hole for the next shipment.” He paused, letting his master wait expectantly for the third reason. The moment was necessary, Dadd reminded himself. Give him time to think through his rage for a moment and he would see that everything that Dadd had said was true.

“I thought you said there were three.”

Dadd allowed himself a small smile. “You’re right, I did. The lad offered up his share of the day’s take because he didn’t get the elf under control as quickly as you’d asked him to.” He had removed the pouch from Rinn’s belt when he had cleaned his daggers, and he tossed the pouch, which jingled as it whistled through the air, into Sordri’s lap. Sordri paused, picked up the pouch, and shook it slightly next to his ear. If there was anything that could get him to stop and think, it was the prospect of more riches.

“Thirty gold coins.” The grandmaster’s ear was impeccable. “Not an insignificant amount. He really offered up all this?”

“Sure did, boss.” Dadd lied smoothly. ”You’re focused on his foul-ups, but I’m focused on his talent. And I tell you true, he’s got the swiftest fingers and the quietest feet this side of Thedas. You keep him alive and let him, er, marinate a bit more, and you’ll have one of the finest thieves ever. He just needs experience.”

“Experience.” Sordri scowled. “Maybe all I’ll get is another talented thief that questions my orders and talks back to me. Is that what I really want?”

Dadd grinned. “I don’t know who you could possibly be talking about, but if I may - a question of my own. Do you like money?”

“Of course I like money.”

It was Dadd’s most common defense, and it always swayed his master because his master could look at the books and see very clearly how much more money had crossed his operation since Dadd had joined the organization.

“Then let him live. You’re pissing away money if you kill him just because you’re impatient or because he’s dumb. Piss too much of it away and you’ll be back down here with me living with the dogs instead of encrusting yourself with jewels.

Sordri let out a bored sigh, and his furious expression all but vanished. “Maybe I miss living down there with you and the rest of the dogs. I was Sordri the Savage, then. Clawing my way to the top.”

“Beating elves, dodging guards, extorting coin, handling lyrium, parrying halberds with knives, killing those in front of you to get to the top - what’s not to miss?” Dadd murmured. He could have gone on, but any more and he might just have revealed how truly dissatisfied he was with his current life, one which saw him doing most of those things on a weekly basis - when he wasn’t beating up on the trainees, of course.

Sordri remained silent.

“Thought so.” Dadd bowed slightly. “I’m going to go check on the lad and get to wor-”

“No. Wait here, Daddarin Cadash. Now I have three things to tell you.”

Dadd had been turning to leave, but stiffened as he realized Sordri had used his full name. In ten years of serving as Sordri’s second, his defense had never failed, and for a moment he wondered if it had. Some of the younger dwarves had long spread rumors that Sordri only used your full name when he was about to kill you, and though Dadd had seen Sordri kill plenty of people without addressing them by their full name, this was nonetheless a unique occasion. He turned his blue-grey eyes on the jewel-covered dwarf.

“First- if anyone below you ever draws their weapon on you again, you are to kill them. We cannot afford even a hint of disloyalty. Do you understand?”

“How did you-”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I could hear his scream four floors away. You seldom raise your daggers unless it is in self-defense or a paid assassination. When a whimpering dwarf walked past my door still wringing his wounded hand, it was easy to guess what had happened.” He paused, giving Dadd a mocking grin.

“Do you understand?” This time, the question had little to do with the understanding of the first rule, and Daddarin knew it.

“Yes, guildmaster.” He murmured, feeling like a green thief again.

“The second thing relates to the first - don’t disobey me again. I know how much you value flexibility, but it pays to be inflexible in some things.”

Dadd remained expressionless, but inside he was furious. Sordri’s inflexibilities usually led to needless loss of life, or wastes of resources.

“The third thing. Your numbers were wrong. If you or I were to kill that lad, we wouldn’t have been down three hands, we’d be down four.”

“Four? I don’t understand.” Dadd narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Did we lose another on the raid, or did someone defect?”

“Four. I need you to undertake a very special mission for me, Daddarin. You’re the only one I can trust with this and, truth be told, perhaps the only one we have with the experience to pull this off. Sending you away in light of this incident will do nicely - it’ll keep people from asking questions. Go get what you need for a long journey, and pack plenty of parchment and quills to send messages - not to mention your cipher.”

“Don’t need no cipher. I have our codes memorized. But if you want me to write in codes, then that can only mean...”

“Yes. You’re going to be a spy. One of the other cells requested the most reliable man I knew, and believe it or not, that’s you. So go pack and I’ll tell you the rest of the details tomorrow before you leave.”

“Do I even get a hint?” It was this kind of backtalk that had originally led to Sordri nearly taking his eye several years ago, but that was before his loyalty had been unquestioned.

Sordri’s lips curled wickedly. “Let’s just say you’re going to find religion.”

END

[libraribear]

Trouble Brewing

“It might be neat to tinker around with a new Shepard and play the Mass Effect Trilogy and Andromeda on the side here and there while I do BG and Dragon Age.”

*TWO HOURS OF ME1 LATER*

“Uh oh.”

I can’t help it, this is my favorite game series of all time. Wonder if I’ll manage to romance someone other than Tali this time around?

[libraribear]

You go, Mazzy

For the record, I actually like Jaheira as a character. Sure, she’s sharp, and in her own words (as I discovered today), bitchy, but she’s a solid party member who has bailed my party out with scimitar and druidic magics countless times.

That said, this is my first time playing through BG2 with Mazzy as a party member, and my goodness she rocks. I always cast her aside because I didn’t think a fighter wielding a short sword and a short bow was that useful - but calling Jaheira out on her treatment of Nordred (my PC)? Priceless.

Telling the Shade Lord that he’s going to be fully dead when she’s done with him? Awesome.

The only thing I’m not sure about is how she managed to arc all those arrows over the party’s heads. She doesn’t exactly have the best vantage point, you know.

Plus, what are those - tiny braids? Halfling dreadlocks? Whatever they are they’re kind of awesome.

[libraribear]

Like Thingie

“List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you. Learn to know your mutual and followers. “

I’m probably breaking tumblr rules or something by not just reblogging this, but the chain that I got tagged on was like, ten giant pages long... also I think we’re doing it wrong because it’s not in my ask box but w/e.

Tagged by @blizzweirdo

In no particular order:

1. My wife and kids: As all families do, they drive me insane as well. But few things brighten my day than seeing my baby girl’s face crease into a grin, observing the journey of wonder and discovery my 4 and 5 year old boys are on, or spending time with Mrs. Bear and knowing I’ve found that person that accepts me as I am, warts and all. Marriage and family aren’t for everyone, and interestingly I’m not sure they ever were in my head as one of those things I NEEDED to be happy when I was young and unmarried - but they’re pretty sweet.

2. Books: C’mon, how can you be a proper librarian and not have books on this list? I never realized what a true sucker I was for libraries until I went to the public library, saw their kind of haphazard 

3. Video Games: I’ve been a game player from the day I watched my neighbor play his NES at the tender age of 4 or 5. Santa brought me an NES at 5, and I’m sure he regrets that decision, but I don’t.

4. Helping Others:  At the end of the day my mother always said that she only had one goal bringing me up: make sure I was kind. Though it took me awhile to arrive at librari-bearing as a career path - even if in thirty years I didn’t become President of the American Library Association or come up with many new, lifelong library innovations - I will always be able to keep in mind that I helped a bunch of college students and other strangers realize their goals in some small way. I love answering esoteric questions which is part of the nature of my job. Librarians are weird and I’m happy to consider myself a member of this brother/sisterhood.

5. Role Playing Games: I didn’t play my first game of Dungeons and Dragons until I was like 17 in high school, and I still don’t play that often except with my home group. But lately I’ve been sticking a toe back into that pool and also really getting into plenty of D&D related fandoms like Critical Role, so at a loss for a #5 because I can’t pick just one this is what I’ll go with.

I tag @inner-muse and @lady-halibuts-convos, but as always because I hate tags and the anguish of obligation attached to them, I use my Libraribear powers to promise I won’t be at all offended if either of you lovely people do NOT want to do this.

Do I even... have other followers? If I do and you want to do this, be my guest! I’m sorry I’m an internet introvert and haven’t made any attempt to get to know you. :0

[libraribear]

It’s been too long since I played DnD 🤩