#Old God Cultist shenanigans

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Option 1:

Enemy: High King Durretar, Ancient Blue Dragon of the Sapphire Scale

Episode: C3 E27: King of Dragons

Time: 48:48-2:11:35 (battle stops at 2:03:55 but initiative ends at the later time)

Finish: Princess Shiverblight

Notes: On 3, regicide! The level 8 party decides to fight an ancient dragon on their own when only one of them manages to long rest beforehand. The mechanics of this encounter include dragon riding and are so goddam cool. It's also incredibly visual and one of Murph's best uses of lair actions to date.

Propaganda: (anonymous) CMON ITS KING OF DRAGONS. SO SICK. genuinely from the bottom of my heart the most exciting, interesting, and cool encounter I've ever seen. Rad as hell both mechanically and plot wise. SHIVERBLIGHT SWEEP!!

MY SUPERBOWL OF DND FIGHTS!!!!! TRULY SO ICONIC AND FUN!!!! COMBAT OF ALL TIME

I mean, come on! It was a giant fucking sky battle on the backs of dragons, unbelievably cinematic, lots of close calls, princess shiver blight, nothing comes fucking close!

Princess Shiverblight MVP

you know.

it's just so sick and scary

Option 2:

Enemy: Lord Ultrus and the Order of the Runny Eye

Episode: C3 E44: Trial by Steel and C3 E45: Lord Ultrus

Time: 1:04:08 (44) - 1:42:08 (45)

Finish: Hardwon (traps Ultrus in the Kingshammer)

Notes: Hardwon starts the battle with a Battlemaster ability. Jaina and Calder finally get involved in a fight (from inside the helm!!). Callie joins them inside the helm, and Ultrus and the cultists keep swapping who is inside the helm and who is outside the helm. Hardwon has a real Hardwon moment of standing alone, facing down a god (or a giant who made a deal with a god and has the powers of a god, who was responsible for the death of his best friend). Sol does some shenanigans and kind of keeps missing but is also impossible to hit. Kenna keeps saving lives. I cannot actually describe in words the moment where Hardwon regains the Kingshammer, casts Spirit Guardians, and an army joins them, as we get to finally see Cobb's final moments and the memory that was stored in the hammer. Jake is playing 2 PCs wonderfully. Also: "Hardwon! Catch!"

Propaganda: (anonymous) Not only is the battlefield dynamic and engaging (having Ultrus and his cronies switching between battlefields, making it effectively two battles at once) it also has narrative emotional stakes and big character moments (Old Cobb’s last words to Hardwon).

(also this post)

The concurrent battles in the material plane and in the demiplane, Ultrus's ability to switch between the two so everyone got to fight both him and the warlock goons, the extra abilities stolen from the trapped prisoners, the mechanics for breaking out of the helm, HARDWON AND JAINA AND THE DWARF DADDIES

god i know so many people will add this one but i love it so much. the way they jump back and forth between the Trial by Steel and the fight inside the helm is SO GOOD. i still have goosebumps from Jaina throwing the queenshammer through the barrier and Hardwon catching it. also the stakes were SO HIGH it was FANTASTIC. 10/10 combat

HUGE!!!! ITS HUGE!!!!! omg where to even start with this. the rolls alone feels INSANE AGSHAJDJSKD. JAINA AND CALDER. THE MOMENT WITH THE KINGSHAMMER. CALDER SUCCESSFULLY TACKLING ULTRUS. HARDWON GETTING A 30 TO PUT HIM IN THE HAMMER. THE SPIRIT GUARDIANS???????? I CRIED

truly the epitome of murph encounters! two different battles waging at the same time, with different combat styles (one big enemy vs lots of weaker baddies) in different planes, that then switch so everyone gets to fight in every situation. great group of PCs and NPCs that make excellent choices (shoutout to jake for playing two characters at once!), tons of emotional beats, and a very satisfying narrative closure to the arc. gotta love it

[saikokirakira]

Worshipped, not Bound (Jake Lockley x Bakunawa!Reader pt.2)

a/n: guess who's back on their Moon boi shenanigans? Me. I literally speed-wrote three parts in my attempts to procrastinate writing my Miguel O'Hara spicy WIP, so our favourite limo driver now has 4 parts in his introduction. also I quit my job. :))

Prev: IV. Jake pt.1 | Next: IV. Jake pt.3 | AU Masterlist

warnings: jake “the simp king” lockley origin story; angst as a sub-genre?; one-way intense pining; divorce babe; show's interpretation of DID; Tommy Wiseau joke; language / one (1) f-bomb; non-canon Philippine mythology

You returned to London with no problems.

Well, maybe two.

Marc and Steven.

Maybe Layla, but she didn’t return to London with Marc after the entire fiasco in Egypt.

It was cruel to make Steven and Marc think that you remained dead after releasing Bakunawa.

But it would be even crueler to bring them back into your world after they’ve been set free by Khonshu.

Still thinking about that twerp?

You rolled your eyes as the snake tattoo slithered around your hand while you raised your paintbrush to the easel.

It’s surprising how they didn’t even try to stop by in your workplace.

While Sidapa still had his glum demeanor, he definitely started picking up Bakunawa’s habit on being a pain in your ass.

We heard that.

“You were meant to.”

“What was that, dear?” your mentor called out from his desk.

“Nothing.”

“You should go get some rest. It’s quite late.”

You didn’t argue and began packing up.

Luckily you lived close to your work place. Just a half-hour walk.

But suddenly… you felt the scales under your skin out of instinct.

You looked up to the tops of one of London’s old buildings.

Nothing. Just the glow of the full moon.

A deep sigh left you at the sentimental sight.

For the rest of your walk, you refused to look at the sky.

 ...

Jake didn’t know why Khonshu wanted him to watch over you.

There were more better ways of him spending time while he was in control of his body.

Like finding where Harrow is for starters.

It wouldn’t be that hard to find the cultist harboring an equally murderous god in him if it was that easy to find you.

Jake tugged his cap lower to avoid the cameras as he snuck in the apartment building entrance before the door locked.

13th floor, Jake noted as he watched the lift stopped. He waited a beat before calling down the lift back down to follow you.

As the lift doors open…

“Oh, hi, Marc.”

Jake froze at the sight of you still in the lift, now smiling at him like catching his hand in the cookie jar.

Now, he was sitting in your living room with a good cup of joe with you in the loveseat across from him.

Where the hell was Khonshu?!

“How long have you been following me?”

“Two days.”

Damn it, why was he being honest?

“It’s good to see you.”

Jake swallowed heavily and kept his head down, hiding his eyes under his cap.

Probably not that honest.

“Did Steven tell you where to find me? Or was it Layla?”

Jake winced again.

While it was Marc who handed the divorce papers before all this happened, but now…

Layla did. All signed and delivered.

She wanted to stay in areas closer to Egypt, and Marc desperately wanted the freedom he’d been asking for since the beginning of being Khonshu’s slave.

It was a quick and easy process, and Marc barely put up a fight when the papers arrived.

It would’ve probably been different if Steven was around.

But Steven…

Steven hasn’t fronted since Cairo… wouldn’t even talk to Marc.

During the aftermath of the battle and Ammit was defeated, Steven just… faded away.

He was still in there but in a deep sleep.

If he only knew that Khonshu still had a hold of their body, Steven would know you were still alive.

But Jake wanted to keep you as his alone for a little while longer.

…

You watched Marc’s silent demeanor very carefully.

You expected him to be angry… or to at least be sarcastic with you.

Actually, you expected Steven to be the one to find you first.

You weren’t exactly hiding in the first place.

Something wasn’t quite right.

“Marc, why did you come looking for me?”

Finally… Khonshu appeared.

I need you to find Arthur Harrow for us.

Without hesitation, your scaled, armored claw had the stranger in a chokehold.

“Who the fuck are you?”

[smolsaltypan]

What if any dragonborn (in the soul-sense) after Martin mantles akatosh, is technically a septim? Something something akatosh creates dragonborn by giving them a dragon soul, akatosh having also made all the other Dragons if I'm remembering right, Dragons being the children of akatosh therefore dragonborn as humanoid-shaped Dragons are also children of akatosh. New mantled akatosh having learned he was a septim the whole time, the supposed last hope of the empire despite being an ex pleasure cultist bastard, accepting this into his identity, taking on the responsibility of ruling the empire and sacrificing himself for the good of nirn. Becoming a god in the process. Creating this new-old-soul little being. Dragonborn as Septim and technically a legitimate heir to the septim reign and threat to the Mede dynasty through mystical soul adoption shenanigans.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

How did Yuu meet the NRC gang in the deity au?

Well, that’s an easy one. Yuu fell into one of the Stardust Pools after Grim–who tried to steal some stardust pebbles from the water and accidentally aggro’d the magic golem into chasing both of them–and wound up in the Realm of Spring!

Ya’ll should know by now that it’s not Twisted Wonderland if Grim isn’t there to help drag us into shenanigans! >vÓ

Sorry for the delayed response, but a good chunk of things have been added and changed since I first started this AU. I’m quite pleased with the direction it’s going and I look forward to seeing how it progresses!

Anyway, one new development to the story I originally had is that Yuu “inherits” a seemingly useless item (of your choice by the way; there will be eight total, but I gotta figure out what the remaining ones besides these main four are) from a supposed relative: 

A “broken” compass that won’t be balanced no matter how much someone tinkers with it, an old pendant that looks like a small mirror, a metal bracer with a notch in it with a missing gemstone, and a small crystal that seems to contain a wisp of smoke within and “hums” when held in their palm.

These items will be given to Yuu/the reader/MC under the guise of a relative by the Lost Gods watching over them from afar (I shall go into detail when I finally finish the paths for the Yuu(s), as one of the paths will have the same items just received under a different circumstance!). While they may seem old and worn out, they’re actually ancient artifacts once used by the Ancient Hero to end the Great Darkness centuries ago.

Whichever one you choose first will essentially be the “strongest value” that Yuu will continue the story with while they collect the remaining seven items (four if we add the current known Yuu’s from the manga and novel in one of the other story paths).

If you guys got Kingdom Hearts vibes from the “what will you choose?” bit, then you get a cookie!

So now you must be wondering: why am I bringing this up? Simple, my dear. Because if Yuu didn’t have one of these artifacts (which is bonded to their soul by the way and will come back like a boomerang), they likely would have already been kicked out of Riddle’s realm so they can continue their mortal existence and we wouldn’t have a story. 😂

There isn’t anyone in the deity circle (aka NRC boys) who doesn’t recognize any of these artifacts. After all, they created said artifacts themselves and witnessed the usage of them to save the balance firsthand. Is it any wonder they might want to find and keep the missing mementos of their closest and dearest friend who sacrificed their life to save theirs? Not that they’d be very successful in taking it away when it’s bound to its new master already. As for how they meet the other deities…

Well, it’s kinda hard not to be the center of their attention when you’re literally in the middle of the emergency pantheon meeting Riddle called on discovery of the artifact. ^v^;

Afterwards, though, it’s essentially up to you to decide which pantheon Yuu/the reader/MC interacts with in whichever order. You want to follow it via the game chapters? Want to go in reverse or hop around like a graceful gazelle? Go ahead! You can take your time to get to know the deities and explore the pantheons or experience shenanigans while trying to uncover the true lore behind the Great Darkness. If you wanna toss Yuu/the reader/MC into the deep end of the pool and uncover the “Overblots” cultists that want to create a new “Great Darkness” by targeting them and Grim while they scramble to find the artifacts…well, that’s up to you too!

[the-one-who-lambs]

Oh, question!! If you don’t mind sharing; what things do you plan on expanding upon in your series?

So, for the upcoming rewrite of "The Risen Lamb and the Fallen God," some overarching things I want to do are to add much more detail to scenes that seem flat to me, fix pacing issues (readers tell me my pacing is allegedly great, but I've improved enough in the last year to catch many places I'm unhappy with), and focus on showing rather than telling.

Some key parts I want to add, content-wise, include:

Draw out the "enemies" stage (or, at least, definitely-not-friends-yet stage) of the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers hullabaloo. The first fic of the original series will be split into at least three chapters.

Relics of the Old Faith content will be added. Most notably, The Lamb will have the opportunity to revive the Bishops pretty early on. Will they take it? You'll have to see.

Add more scenes wherein Lamb needs to build up their crown powers now that they've attained godhood. The best one to help with this is Narinder. He is not willing to help, initially, for obvious reasons.

Narinder and Lamb interacting with other characters more that aren't each other! Especially building upon Lamb's relationship with Ratau, Narinder's friendship with Thenana, and Narinder trying not to maim interacting with other cultists.

At least five new chapters with brand-new shenanigans.

Some smaller details I plan to include:

Narinder will take the role of the undertaker, now that this is a role followers can do in the cult.

Narinder struggling with chronic pain and mobility issues, especially at the beginning.

More crusading together and silly side adventures.

And many many many more things I have detailed in a plotting document that's three pages long and I'm only halfway through my reread to help me brainstorm.

I haven't written in three days and it feels fucking bizarre, but I needed a bit of time to step back from it after taking on my 30-day writing challenge. Would've made more sense if I did it in November for NaNoWriMo, but whatever!

[katieskarlette]

Between Wrathion and Sabellian... who has your vote? 👀

I've been asked this several times, and been thinking about it. I think part of why it's hard for me to decide is because I think there are some great stories to be told either way.

If Sabellian becomes Aspect, Wrathion would have to find a new purpose in life, or do freelance Earth Warding, so to speak. He'd be free to choose his own path in a way he has never been, which might be a blessing in disguise. Or Sabellian could turn out to be a bad guy and Wrathion would have to lead a coup. Or Sabellian could turn down the position because he realizes that Wrathion is what the flight needs for a fresh start, untouched by corruption. Lots of potential there.

If Wrathion becomes the Aspect, it could be a glorious culmination of all his efforts, a sort of "and he lived happily ever after" destiny...or it could turn into a disaster because he's immature, brash and impulsive. Or it could start out bumpy but we could watch/help him grow into the role. Or Sabellian could lead a coup against him. Or Wrathion could turn down the position because he eventually realizes his own shortcomings and recognizes Sabellian's superior experience. Tons of potential there, too.

Or...Ebyssian could show up and try to make Sabellian and Wrathion stop fighting about it, and everyone is like, "Wow, now there's a level-headed dragon who can smooth over conflicts, is uncorrupted, and has leadership experience. Let's pick him instead." I know a lot of people have suggested this with varying degrees of seriousness, but I actually wouldn't mind if it became canon. It wouldn't mean Wrathion and Sabellian would have to go away and not be in the story anymore; if anything it would free them from obligations and let them get up to different shenanigans.

That's from a writing/storytelling viewpoint.

If I was a black dragon myself, I'd either have been hiding somewhere on Azeroth, trying to evade Blacktalon assassins since Cataclysm, or I'd be arriving with Sabellian from Outland now. In that case, I'd be more inclined to vote for the devil dragon I knew.

If I was deciding as a mortal (i.e. non-dragon) character in Azeroth watching this all unfold, I'd be more apt to side with the guy I've worked alongside for years. I watched him geek out over mogu and mantid artifacts in Pandaria. I accompanied him through the August Celestials' challenges and heard the genuine fear and despair in his voice when he spoke of his apocalyptic visions of the Legion's return. I read the logbook detailing how he saved some of Admiral Taylor's troops from death cultists in the Spires of Arak. I saw him risk life and limb to take down N'Zoth. Yes, he's made mistakes, but so do we all. He means well and he's not afraid to throw himself into the action in pursuit of his goals.

As for game mechanics and purely personal sentiment, of course I'll side with, and do quests for, my precious son on my main character. That doesn't mean the first alt I get to 70 will, though...

Most of all, I love both characters and their stories, and don't like to see fans bashing one to support the other. They both have flaws and strengths, and (barring Old Gods turning puppet masters again) I think they both would be fine Aspects.

I also don't want to set my heart on a particular outcome because that's just setting myself up for disappointment. Even if Blizzard's storytelling seems to be improving with this expansion, their recent track record has made me wary. I love the black dragonflight story so far, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to be awesome, but if it takes a nosedive I won't be utterly shocked. Best to keep my expectations low.

So, uh...short answer? Wrathion.

[cebinaruavin]

Sinister Shadows

((Story co-written with @thefugitivemango / Alteris . Story elements discussed with/approved by @nepenthea / @pariker . @brent-sunborn and @kaiekasunwhisper tagged for character mention))

~*~*~

Ears flickered and eyes darted around. Alteris had no desire to be here, of all places. He’d heard stories of Nazjatar, of course - he expected every elf had. And even before his family had inducted him into the shadowy cult of Twilight, it sounded very much like a place he wanted to avoid at all costs. Seeing it now, that opinion hadn’t changed.

But he had a purpose here and now. In the ruins of Zin-Ashari, the Coterie had made camp. Expecting the glory of N’Zoth to wash over them here, at the moment of his expected release… they waited. She waited. Nepen’thea meditated, communing with the darkness, the shadowy power that flowed through her. Empowered her. Even now, she was in a trance state, completely attuned to the Void. Alteris watched her from the shadows of her lavish room. Watching her, and the door… warily. If she woke, she’d have questions. And if Kai’eka or that angry little stalker she partnered with came back, they’d have questions, too.

Questions he’d rather avoid.

“Find it yet?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. “Thought y’knew where it was.”

“Never said that, Sweetie,” Cebina’s melodious voice replied.

It was true. The priestess has promised to keep an eye out for the item Alteris had requested, and to collect it if found. However; she hadn’t been invited to Thea’s room often since then; the Speaker was drawn to her Void meditation more and more the closer N’Zoth came to being free. Just as well. The commotion at the Eternal Palace gave the two interlopers the perfect opportunity to search her room freely.

And so, while Alteris watched her back, Cebina rummaged through chests, drawers and wardrobes. She wasn’t about to risk actively using her powers, though. That would leave a trail that could be traced back to her.

Time passed and Cebina huffed. Her search had yielded no results. She looked over to a large pile of pillows where Thea’s famous hookah was kept.

“You also never mentioned what it would look like,” she added as she got up and went over to look under and around the pillows.

“I dunnae know what it looks like! I told yeh that!” he whisper-shouted back, brow furrowing. “It’s gotta be here, though. She wouldn’t leave it behind.”

He slipped back from watching Nepen’thea, delving deeper into the room to help Cebina search. It was a huge disadvantage, not knowing what, exactly, it looked like. But a powerful item like that, literally his leash, wasn’t something he could see the Speaker leaving outside her reach. It had to be there, somewhere!

“Check boxes and shit.” he whispered again. “Th’ thing in me’s some kinda sphere… maybe th’ controller is, too.”

“Boxes are too obvious,” Cebina tapped her finger on her lips as she thought, “Hmm, a sphere…”

Her ears perked up as she made her way back to the vanity and began sifting through the jewelry.

“Come here and see if any of these feel familiar to you.”

Alteris shrugged - it was worth a shot. Slowly, he hovered his hand over the jewelry as Cebina splayed it out atop the vanity. His lip curled down, in disgust; lavish necklaces and bracelets, earrings to match… gaudy things, some of them. Others so ornate and complex, he could hear the whispers of unearned superiority in their low jinglings when Cebina set them out. Alteris was never big into the lavish life anyway. But this seemed especially excessive. Sickeningly so. 

Nothing felt familiar.

He huffed, grumbling lowly in… Dwarvish?... as he continued the futile search. Nothing reacted, nothing felt any different or out of the ordinary. None of the jewelry could be the controller. Nothing in the room felt like the controller. If she hid it, she hid it well. And he didn’t have time to overturn every drawer or case in the room to find it. His eyes narrowed, shooting back to the Speaker in stasis. She’d forced his hand, this time. Bringing him back into enslavement, flaunting her power so needlessly… for what? She didn’t seem to want him for anything other than just to say she had him. A pet. He wouldn’t get free of her as long as she had that control. Otherwise…

“... We’ve gotta improvise.” he mumbled lowly, eyes narrowed.

Cebina sighed at Alteris’ lack of patience as she went about returning the different pieces of jewelry in their rightful positions in the ornate box. There was a reason she mostly worked alone... 

“Not much to improvise on, Sweetie. Thea’s not dumb. She hides her things well. There’s probably an Arcane cloak over it. Makes it invisible and is preventing Void users from detecting it.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at Nepen’thea’s cleverness, “She’s good. Best just to put everything back where we found it and come back when the next opportunity presents itself. I’ll look into acquiring something that can help us detect Arcane enchantments for next time.”

It sounded like a solid plan. And if Alteris was of a mind to hear it, he might’ve agreed. But his mind was made up - if he couldn’t find the controller, he’d simply have to make sure she could never use it. And there was only one sure-fire way to make sure of that!

“Won’t be a next time, Sweetie.” Alteris returned, somewhat mockingly.

He reached back, quickly drawing his swords from their scabbards. Without hesitation, he reeled back, and thrusted them at Nepen’thea! ...But it wasn’t so simple to kill a Speaker. Least of all, one as cunning as her! The void energies surrounding her reacted, forming a dense barrier that caught Alteris’ blades as he thrust them towards the Speaker. He snarled, pressing against the void barrier with all his might! Within it, Nepen’thea seemed blissfully unaware of what was going on; her serene expression remained, as her meditations continued. 

Somehow, it pissed Alteris off all the more.

“What are you…?!” Cebina quickly spun as she heard the clash of energies.

She shouldn’t have been surprised. Alteris wasn’t the patient type. He’d demonstrated that once already by getting killed in Silvermoon not long after his resurrection from the Void. She wanted to be angry, but really, Alteris was just acting like the dumbass he was. It was her own fault for agreeing to come with him on this search in the first place. 

The damage was done. Nepen’thia had been attacked. Despite her appearing oblivious to it, no doubt had a way of detecting who had made the attack. She could attempt to stop Alteris, and risk going down with him when shit hit the fan. Or, she could help him in murdering a prone Speaker and gain more control and freedom over her own situation. Between her and Alteris, they could no doubt get the job done.

She didn’t need to move from where she was, extending her hands as the shadows weaved around to encompass her entire body. Her powers were much stronger here, so close to N’Zoth’s embrace. The shadows extended from her fingertips, shooting across the room to move over the barrier.

“Get ready,” she told Alteris, “I’ll have the shield down in under a minute.”

It was all she said before setting her mind to the task at hand, pouring all of her concentration in nullifying the barrier. The Speaker’s shield was strong, but her mind being elsewhere made it less strong than it could be. Cebina, being empowered and in full concentration, was much stronger in this situation. The Void energies sparked and flared.

Pleasantly surprised Cebina didn’t try and stop him, Alteris grinned. He held, pressing against the void shield as long as it took for the Priestess to undo it. It shattered in an instant, the powers both of them exacted against it proving sufficient enough in overcoming the barrier! 

“Now!”

The burst, however, caused a blowback - a steady galewind force of power blasting back anything not tied down! Nepen’thea’s personal protection was layered, it seemed. The shield was only the beginning! Curtains billowed, clothing racks and dressers toppled over, the room itself fell into an upheaval… But Alteris remained, planting his feet as he resisted the blast. He couldn’t fail now, they’d come too far for that by now!

“Nnnyyaaaaagh!” he cried out, swords inching closer against the torrent of energy repelling him!

He began to gain ground, razor-sharp tips of his dark swords closing in on the Speaker. Tantalizingly close - mere millimeters! He lunged with all his might to close the gap. It worked; the blades found purchase in Nepen’thea’s chest, barely piercing her skin!

Her eyes shot open, affixed on Alteris. She smirked.

Then, she was gone.

The repellant force ceased, the room falling eerily still. Alteris collapsed, dazed and dumbfounded by what had just happened. The death rune, perhaps? No… it hadn’t triggered. Both he and Cebina would’ve felt it. He quickly looked at his arm, where the rune was - intact, as it had been. She vanished for another reason altogether. Cebina as well had braced herself for the pain that came with the rune being set off… but it never came. Thea was gone… but not dead. 

“--What happened?!” he demanded, eyes narrowing at Cebina… as if she knew any more than he did.

“Pookie?”

The horror separated itself from the shadows as it was called, taking its rightful place at the Priestess’ side and awaiting its orders.

“Find Thea. Kill her.”

The shadow monstrosity made its way around the room. If Thea teleported somewhere, the Void creature would easily sense her trail and track her down. It lingered around where the Speaker’s body had been, seeming to sniff the air around, but there was no trail to be found. Cebina herself kept her shadows on high alert. Not attempting to subdue her powers anymore as she tried to detect a Void tear or portal of any kind.

“I… don’t know,” she finally admitted, “She’s not dead, but she didn’t teleport or blink away, either.”

She suddenly gasped as she realized. Thea had been in deep meditation… she’d been working harder and longer for months enhancing her connections to the Void. Attacking her in such a out of body experience could only do one thing...

“She’s become one with the Void,” she concluded, wide eyes looking at Alteris, “We destroyed her body, but her spirit is lost in the Void. That’s why our runes didn’t go off.”

“.... Y’sure?”

Alteris continued looking around, warily. Joining with the Void wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. He much preferred the assurance of a corpse. He’d joined with the Void himself, before… and clearly that didn’t turn out to be a permanent arrangement. His ear twitched as he looked Cebina over, lips curling to a smirk. Nepen’thea was the one to pulled him from the Void; no one else among the Coterie could. Cebina, perhaps, but… she wouldn’t. Not after going through the trouble to help him kill her. That was, more or less, what they did.

“She’s good as dead, if that’s true, lass.” he chuckled. “Think we did it.”

The room was already a mess, but Alteris set immediately to trashing the place further; yanking down drapery, scattering clothes… then dousing every soft fabric thing in alcohol by pouring it out. It wasn’t hard to figure out his next move.

Cebina simply watched him, silently. Pookie had returned to her side, emitting some strange mix of a growl and a purr as the Priestess gently scratched the top of its head. This wasn’t at all how she’d imagined the scenario playing out. A less obvious murder scene would have been preferred, but there would be none of that with Alteris.

Obviously, he wasn’t the type to think ahead very far.

“So what’s the plan, Sweetie? Where do we go from here?” 

She was curious as to what was going through his head.

“... We?”

Alteris raised his brow, as he emptied out the last of the alcohol onto the lavish bed in the corner. He shrugged at Cebina, passing her by as he headed for the door.

“She’s fuckin’ dead, now. I’m free, lass. I’m gone.” he explained. “Th’plan now is t’burn this shithole down, and ne’er look back.”

He was polite enough, at least, to wave Cebina out of Nepen’thea’s encampment before lighting the match and tossing it into the volatile room. But he was clearly eager to - fingers twisting and spinning the match stick around, in anticipation.

“You oughta do th’ same.”

Cebina frowned, waving aberration back to the shadows as she followed Alteris out the door. She wasn’t about to stop him from burning down evidence, after all. 

“We had a deal, Alteris,” she reminded him, hands finding their places on her hips, “I help you gain your freedom, you help get me off the chopping block. Brent is going to be furious, and,  unlike with you, your big kodo of a sister won’t hesitate to cut me down. If you won’t take me with you, at least make it look like I tried to fight you off.”

Alteris scoffed! He let out a light chuckle, as he tossed the match in through the doorway - the room ignited quickly. 

“Can’t help if y’still want in good with these people, aye? Brent’ll be huntin’ me down. An’ Kai’s gonna be fuckin’ pissed, family ties aside.” He shrugged. “Y’want off th’ choppin’ block? Do what I suggest; disappear.”

Swiftly, he tucked his matchbook and cigarette case back into his pocket, and turned to leave. 

“Deal’s done. Nice knowin’ yeh.”

Cebina did nothing to stop Alteris from walking away, though she did look awfully put out; arms crossed and eyes narrowed. She let out a sigh as the shadows around her body slipped away.

“Thanks for burning the evidence, at least, Sweetie.”

While part of her was frustrated at Alteris’ unwillingness to hold up his end of the deal, the situation could have been much worse. All evidence of Cebina being part of this whole event was currently up in flames. All she had to do was make up a story about being away investigating a disturbance, returning only to see Alteris fleeing the scene. Brent would automatically blame him anyway. 

She turned to face the burning building, arms remaining crossed over her chest, hip sticking out. Then, she smiled as she enjoyed watching The Speaker’s home burn just a little longer. Finally, she brought a hand to touch the ring on her finger, activating the communication rune beneath it.

“Brent! Kai!” She made certain her voice sounded alarmed and out of breath, “It’s an emergency!”

[calamity-unlocked]

Yup. I did it y'all. I. Don't know what possessed me either. Enjoy <3

Scam Actually/Jodie Foster, 1.8k.

~~~

Scam’s actions usually didn’t come with consequences.

Customarily, Scam would enter a situation with the stirring seed of a not-quite plan and a devious penchant for ‘yes and’-ing his way into hilarity. He’d apply beautiful chaos and discord like a master painter brought strokes of paint to a canvas, then take a deep bow and make his grandiose exit. Such were the daily thrills in the life of a scammer!

Today… was a little different.

It was really the exit strategy where things had gone awry. The jape he had pulled was magnificent as always; he’d infiltrated a bunch of infernal cultists and convinced them that hell was truly only a state of mind, and that they instead should start worshiping the divine embodiment of pasta carbonara.

It had all been fun and games, until their leader had returned to their base and caught them chanting in tongues around a bowl of uncooked spaghetti.

Shenanigans ensued, all of which resulted in the current situation Scam found himself in. His wrists were chained to a tasteless stone slab with magical manacles that prevented him from poofing away. According to the chatter he had picked up, he was to be some kind of offering to please the god they planned on summoning in the hope to gain power and get their core beliefs reaffirmed.

Scented candles were spread in a ritual circle a few feet away from him, which the cultists stood around as they sang an ancient song of power and hellfire, their voices reverberating throughout the dark cave-like base. They all had their hoods pulled up as they passed a golden dagger around, cutting into their hands and letting the blood drip onto the floor, between the lines drawn on the floor.

“Ugh,” Scam rolled his eyes. “You know the spells Gate and Summon Greater Demon only take one action, right? All this atmospheric chanting and palm-slicing has no point whatsoever.”

“SILENCE!” the leader bellowed. He pointed the knife at Scam, his eyes rolling back into his head. “Be elated, you feeble trickster, for you shall soon be consumed by a power greater than the gods themselves. Prepare to face the greatest might of them all!” He turned away from Scam and read the words from the spell scroll in his other hand. “Daemonium inferni, primone aspectu in amore tu credis, aut iterumne experiri debeo!”

With those words, the world flashed red. A pillar of flame erupted in the circle, the fire whirling around like a tornado.

The cultists all prostrated themselves on the floor, screaming with joy and fear. Scam cursed loudly, because some of the sparks landed on his fedora.

Finally, the fire died down and the smoke cleared. The outline of an inhuman figure came into view – large and muscled, with wings of a bat and a jaw that could cut glass. Dark hair and eyes like charcoal. Scam got very hot all of a sudden, and it wasn’t because the temperature in the room was about the same as an average day in hell.

Then he recognized that face.

“Oh! Oh!” Scam exclaimed. “I know him! Hi!!!”

The figure slowly turned his gaze from the quaking cultists to the chained-up chaos bringer. The hardened look immediately turned into full bewilderment as their eyes met.

 Scam tried to wiggle up into a standing position, which only half worked. He managed to give a little wave from behind his back. “Jodie Foster, as I live and breathe! It’s me, your old pal! My, my, my, you have had quite the glow-up. Look at you! All r-r-ripped and chiseled.”

A frown settled on his hellish visage. “Scam Likely? What are you doing here?” It was the same slightly high-pitched voice that he had before – seemed like some things stayed the same, after all.

“Scam Actually, actually!”

“What?” he asked, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Oh my gosh, I so don’t want to deal with this right now.”

“Rough morning?”

“You have no clue,” he chuckled, and shook his horned head.

Scam shimmied his shoulder in what he hoped came across as a helpless gesture, like a baby animal trying to gain the attention of a parent. “Hey, before you go, can you do me a real solid and get these pesky little chains off me? They’re really chafing my wrists, and my skin is really sensitive in that spot. I’d truly appreciate it.”

Jodie crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow. “Why should I help you? Last time I saw you, you caused that whole switcheroo thing and portalled away. For all I know, this is another one of your pranks.”

“Ah, yes,” Scam sighed wistfully, feeling the sweet pang of nostalgia. “How I do miss those days. Life was so much more fun while you courageous dads were roaming these lands, looking for your missing sons.” He gave his sweetest smile, which literally reached from one ear to the other. It was quite grotesque, or so people told him. “But not this time! No tricks, no japes, no nothing. Just scammed a little too close to the sun, that’s all.”

One of the cultists scraped his throat. “So, er– are you gonna kill him? Do you want our souls? What’s– what’s happening over here?”

“Oh. Yes. You’re also here.” Jodie turned to the cultists and visibly had to keep himself from sighing with exhaustion. “So. What is it you want?”

The tallest guy immediately leveled his forehead with the floor once more. “Oh almighty King of the Nine Hells, killer of Asmodeus, elevated firstborn son of the wrathful Snider, glorious bringer of hellfire and ash–”

Scam rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, these guys are some serious bootlickers.”

Jodie scoffed. “Tell me about it.” He waved his hand in an impatient gesture. “Alright, I got it, I’m awesome as fuck. Can we skip to the end, please?”

“Of course, Lord,” the leader stammered. “We would, ah–” He hesitantly glanced over his shoulder at the other cultists. “We’d like power. Right guys?”

A chorus of muttered agreements rose up behind him. “Yeah, I like power,” one of them mumbled, just a bit louder than the rest.

Jodie hissed through his teeth and steepled his fingers. “Listen, it’s not that I got places to be, but I just… this is not really my scene. It was kinda rude to just pull me here, did not appreciate that. Like my good friend Henry would say, consent matters, guys. So… I’m not going to do that.”

Again, the cultists started murmuring amongst themselves, this time with worry. The leader raised his head slightly. “Is– Is the sacrifice not sufficient? We could bring you more blood, if you’d like! Virgins, children, you name it. Whatever you want, my Lord.”

Jodie grimaced. “Ew.” He shot Scam a disturbed look, which Scam answered with his ‘get-a-load-of-this-guy-amirite”-face. “Gross. Well. Now I kinda don’t wanna let you live either. Thought I was gonna do that before, but now… Eh, fuck it.”

He snapped his fingers, and countless bolts of fire zipped through the air with furious rage. Twenty seconds of agonized screaming later, and Scam and Jodie were the only non-burning corpses left in the chamber.

Scam considered it another win in Scam Actually’s book that Jodie had chosen to spare him. Yay him!

“Wow-ie.” Scam whistled in appreciation, then preened when Jodie approached him and effortlessly broke his manacles as though they were made of twigs. “They totally thought you were going to make them immortal and you killed them instead! That was sorta like…” he trailed off, his mouth falling slightly ajar. “A scam,” he finished with reverence. He brought his hand to his mouth to close it, and noticed that his fingers were trembling.

Jodie tilted his head and made a questioning noise. “I don’t really think it was?”

“It definitely was!” he exclaimed and clapped in delight.

Jodie rolled his eyes with what Scam hoped was fondness. “Listen, Scam Actually, it was great catching up with you. But, ah, I gotta go back to hell. I’ve got all this paperwork, and there’s souls to damn, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

Scam’s head swirled around. “But breakfast’s the most important meal of the day!”  he said, appalled. “There’s this great brunch place in Waterdeep. You have got to try it, their croissant rolls are absolutely to die for. Know what? I’ll take you there! We can do some good ol’ catching up – oh, I could tell you about the time I pretended to be a ghost living in a merchant’s mansion for almost three full weeks!”

Jodie laughed and shook his head no. “Thanks, but I’ll just make a sandwich at home.”

Scam planted his hands at his side and clacked his tongue impatiently. “You may or may not have saved my life! The least I could do is buy you breakfast.”

“Let’s… not.” He scratched his head, not meeting Scam’s eyes. “We’ll just make this an IOU, ‘kay? If I need your aid, you help me. That sounds good?”

Scam crossed his arms and staunchly shook his head, chin raised high. “No, no, no, I wanna be Even Stevens with you. No more favors from good ol’ Scam Actually over here. I’m done with those.” Besides, he now had the sneaky sneaky ulterior motive of getting to know the new version of this handsome handsome man over a delicious set of sandwiches. That sounded like the perfect way to spend the rest of the morning.

The archfiend still looked hesitant, so Scam pulled out the biggest weapon in his arsenal: his eye-searing cuteness. With a tilt of the head and a little pout of the lips, Scam looked up at Jodie and said in his sweetest voice: “Pwease?”

“Ugh. Never do that again,” Jodie winced. Then his stomach rumbled, betraying him. He sighed in defeat, seemingly accepting the path the fates had spun for him.

“Sure, why not. Brunch sounds great. You’re paying?”

“Why, yes of course!” Scam lied cheerfully.

“Right. Stupid question.”

Scam was almost skipping as he walked next to Jodie, enjoying the way he smelled like a building that had just burned down with the people still in it. “Is this truly so bad?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Jodie’s left bicep and giving it a strong squeeze.

Jodie’s puppy-like confusion returned but with it came a soft smile – the kind that made his dark eyes seem to come alive with twinkling motes of light. He huffed through his nose in amusement, then gave a short chuckle as he let himself be guided out of the cultists’ base by Scam. “I suppose not,” he said, resigned and amused all at once.

Scam could not stop smiling.

[themansquito]

"Wanted in 30 states for cultist behavior..." Explain? What shenanigans did this man do? What crimes did he commit?

Well, I mentioned he sold his soul, yes? Emory spent his formative years as the figurehead of a cult. Followers believed his psychic powers granted him the ability to communicate with higher beings, and therefore speak to The Memnokern. (An ancient god of tricks and lies that's sometimes a woman but mostly a mass of twisting yarn) He was more along for the ride than a willing participant at first. The rituals were mentally taxing and some of the things Memnokern told him made no sense. But McCarty, the leader, was always there to reassure him that as long as he repeated exactly what she said (and didn't mess up any of the music) then the ceremonies would be fine. And they were! So eventually, he stopped questioning things.

McCarty was just feeding him lines, though. Speaking to him telepathically, in a warped voice. Most of what "the memnokern" wanted people to do was give up all their material possessions and work for the cult. (Surely nothing bad could ever come of impersonating an old trickster god from a mysterious ancient tome?) When too many authorities in one state caught onto the scheme, the core group of McCarty, Emory, and the other psychic kids being exploited would pack up and run to another one. This meant that money was tight and hospitals and hot meals were usually out of the question. Surely nothing bad could ever come of that.

[xalatath]

Grins (read more bc its a long ramble)

Also CW I guess for typical bhaalist shenanigans but it's not too detailed

I know I've posted about Anu & Amir on my blog before. They're twin sisters, and they *look* like tieflings though they aren't really anything specific outside of Bhaalspawn.

Amir began receiving horrifying visions as a child compelling her to murder Anu or else face Bhaal's wrath. She was a scared child and didn't want to, but felt like she was being forced. She attacked Anu but ultimately failed to kill her, but left Anu with a large burn scar covering most of her face, half-blind, and with a brain injury.

The injury caused Anu to be practically unable to resist her urges and she quickly became very violent and unpredictable, which led their (human) parents to abandon them both due to thinking they were cursed. At which point they were tracked down by the cultists and brought to the temple.

Amir felt guilty for injuring Anu so badly to make her the way she was, but the guilt slowly morphed into resentment, and she felt that if she had succeeded in killing her sister then they wouldn't be stuck in the temple. Amir was extremely unhappy with life in the cult but felt like she had no way out. As adults they hated each other. Amir treated Anu like a servant and kept her in line through violence and intimidation. Amir was always seen as incredibly competent but her unwillingness to accept her birthright was her greatest weakness. Bhaal put it into both their minds that they should kill the other to win his favor, expecting Amir to be victorious. But Anu simply just snapped one day and brutally murdered Amir in her sleep and. Ate her body . Expecting this act to be worthy of her father's attention. But Bhaal was angry that the "lesser" sister survived and ordered Anu be killed as a sacrifice, which she was. And both would be punished in death for their failure.

Amir and Anu were older than Durge,and were around the age of Helena Anchev (Orin's mother), and knew Helena when she was a child, though Helena wasn't that old when she died either.

Veil is slightly younger than Orin and originally lived in Menzoberranzan before being smuggled out to Baldurs Gate because the secret Bhaalist sect was in danger of being destroyed since worshipping any god other than Lolth was forbidden. The cultists that smuggled her out of the underdark were killed by adventurers who assumed Veil, who was only around 5 or 6, had been a hostage and they asked her where her home was, and she replied she needed to go to Baldurs Gate and seeing no other option they brought her there. But this was her first interaction with anyone outside of the cult and the kindness they showed her would always stick with her.

She was similarly unhappy with her life at the temple but became more accustomed to it as she indulged her urges and lost sight of herself. She was very close with Orin and they regarded each other as sisters. But their close relationship was seen as a threat, they should be loyal to no one but bhaal, so it was decided they needed to be manipulated into turning against each other, which they did. This caused Veil to become miserable and she started dreaming of escaping again.

She finally had enough when Orin tried to enlist her help to attack Durge (who she also loved and saw as her brother), and Veil broke down and begged her to stop and run away with her so they could be free. But Orin saw this as heresy and demanded Veil get out of her sight immediately, she wouldve killed her if not for the little love that remained between them. So Veil escaped, and ran as far away as she could managed, so her whereabouts and whether she's dead or alive is unknown.

I know about Thu and Uinen but do you have any other favorite OC(s)?

Hmm, I don't really have any other WoW OCs that are as developed as those 2, though I do have a few they just don't feel complete to me until I work out every little detail

Besides them, my favorite OCs are my half-drow assassin Samira, and my 3 Bhaalspawn OCs Veil, Amir and Anu. Samira was one of the tavs I finished the game with but the Bhaalspawns really have nothing to do with BG3 and all 3 of them are dead or missing by the events of the game

The latter 3 I have an elaborate story in my head for and I'm trying to write but it will probably take 1000 years to be finished. Mostly about their interactions living in the Bhaal Temple including Orin(me) and Durge. But if anyone's interested in hearing about them I'd love to talk about it

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Option 1:

Enemy: Lord Ultrus and the Order of the Runny Eye

Episode: C3 E44: Trial by Steel and C3 E45: Lord Ultrus

Time: 1:04:08 (44) - 1:42:08 (45)

Finish: Hardwon (traps Ultrus in the Kingshammer)

Notes: Hardwon starts the battle with a Battlemaster ability. Jaina and Calder finally get involved in a fight (from inside the helm!!). Callie joins them inside the helm, and Ultrus and the cultists keep swapping who is inside the helm and who is outside the helm. Hardwon has a real Hardwon moment of standing alone, facing down a god (or a giant who made a deal with a god and has the powers of a god, who was responsible for the death of his best friend). Sol does some shenanigans and kind of keeps missing but is also impossible to hit. Kenna keeps saving lives. I cannot actually describe in words the moment where Hardwon regains the Kingshammer, casts Spirit Guardians, and an army joins them, as we get to finally see Cobb's final moments and the memory that was stored in the hammer. Jake is playing 2 PCs wonderfully. Also: "Hardwon! Catch!"

Propaganda: (anonymous) Not only is the battlefield dynamic and engaging (having Ultrus and his cronies switching between battlefields, making it effectively two battles at once) it also has narrative emotional stakes and big character moments (Old Cobb’s last words to Hardwon). (also this post)

Option 2:

Enemy: Thiala

Episodes: C1 E100: Heart of the World

Time: (ads) 58:56-2:41:30 (*used the ads version because it's two episodes on patreon so it wouldn't be a great timestamp)

Finish: Moonshine

Notes: Hardwon's insane first 2 rounds (almost 600 damage! and he does miss!!). Moonshine counterspells and then uses Chill Touch to make sure all of Hardwon's damage can stick. The flashback scenes that do psychic damage and enlighten the audience at the last minute on characters we hadn't seen a lot of. Bev goes Elder Champion and casts revivify as a bonus action. The terrain moves to in front of the Heart of the World where Melora and Telaine are holding the world together. Ulfgar and Alanis are used for their power by Thiala, and Galad is fucking back and Thiala's bestie. Erlin is freed by Handy Andy. "I'm gonna fucking eat her."

Propaganda: (anonymous) hardwon surefoot deals 582 points of damage against thiala in two rounds. that’s all

[creativerogues]

Discord Highlights #4: Green Lands Far & New...

After the last instalment of highlights, a lot has happened, from negotiating with immortal Death Knights to winning big in a Feywild fighting pit, to now wanting to talk to the Queen of the Feywild herself, so let’s get into some explanations, shall we?

Shattered Souls: Bustin’ Heads & Winning Big!

After arriving in the Feywild a few sessions ago, the Party gathered and discovered that the famed Cultist of the Red Star that they had been hunting down was working in the Feywild Fighting Pits of the Starlight City, and after pulling off a few displays of daring dauntlessness, the Party challenged the Gladiator himself, going by the title of “The White Ram” due to his albino tiefling skin, to a Fighting Match on the Day of Mid-Summer, when Lady Shandria, Leader of the Starlight City and Niece to the Queen of the Feywild, could observe their fight.

Following some more preparations and a few bets made of the Party’s behalf, Ibernia, a Former Champion of the Fighting Pits and Monk of the Astral Self, stepped forward to duel The White Ram, but quickly fell to his blade...

That is until Blanche, the Sorcerer and Warlock of the Group, abused her knowledge of The White Ram’s True Name to rack his mind with psychic pain, allowing Ibernia to recover from her near lethal injuries (thanks to a Natural 20 on a Death Check) and rise up after nearly being bisected horizontally, now able to turn the pretty face of The White Ram into a bloody caved-in mess of broken bones.

Now, with their fight won and their spoils of war received (as well as a few tens of thousands of Gold Pieces in bets), the Party finds out that Blanche requires the body of The White Ram in order to complete a sinister deal she made with “An Old Swamp Witch”, who just happens to go by the name Baba Yaga.

What does Baba Yaga have in store for Blanche, how will the Party cross a Feywild Swamp the size of a small sea to find this ‘Old Witch’, and how will they leave the Feywild if they don’t even know how they entered?

Looks like the only way to find out is to listen to Shattered Souls Live in our D&D Discord Server…

Heaven & Hel: Making Friends & Crossing Planes...

When we last left our heroes, they were floating around in the Astral Sea looking for a Lost Library, carved from the skull of a long dead goddess.

Well, as it turns out, they found it!

And after completing their travels through the Astral Plane, and managing to find a Colour Pool back home, the Party quickly realised they needed some rest and relaxation, as their time away from the Material Plane quickly caught up with them as soon as they arrived back, causing the Party to gain a whole 5 Level of Exhaustion (let’s just thank them for not staying in the Astral Sea any longer...)

But after a short amount of Downtime and rest, the Party had finally awoken in their forest camp outside of the small forest town of Thanlo, feeling refreshed and rid of their Exhaustion.

And so, after recovering from their time away catching up with them, the Party now plans to investigate the local ruined Farmhouses and Mill to the north of Town, with the hopes of finding a Fey Crossing into the Feywild, so that Maltuul, the Elven Wizard of the Party who has been trying to convince the World that the Prophecy of Ragnarok (Known also as “The Old Apocalypse”) is real, may cross over into the Feywild and convince The Summer Court of his Homeland to aid him in his Quest to halt Ragnarok.

Will Maltuul and the Party be able to convince the many Archfey of The Summer Court to aid them in their time of need, or are these Demi-God like powers a-ok with the destruction of the Material Plane?

Looks like the only way to find out is to listen to Heaven & Hel as it happens, Live in our D&D Discord Server!

Debt & Darkness: Welcome to the Jungle...

After exploring the many rooms of the Demi-Plane Donjon of Tulkaz the Lich’s Astral Dreadnought, and dealing with its many traps and dangers therein, the Party discovered a Concealed Room within the Donjon, finding within a Grey Gateway into the Ethereal Plane.

With some hesitation, the Party entered and fought off a few denizens, before finding the forgotten mass of bones described in Tulkaz’s notes.

Following a few conversations with the denizens of the town’s twisting necropolis, the Group was directed to a Man known as "Lord Ran", an undying Death Knight who spoke to them of his life in Tulkaz's service, and how the Key to The Second Ward of Tulkaz was magically tethered to his Life Force, and his Body bound to the town itself.

However, after a flash of genius and some quickly planning, the Party was able to use Tulkaz's own magical Wards against him, as they brought the floating Grey Gateway of Tulkaz's Astral Dreadnought into the civilization known as Bonetown and convinced Lord Ran to step through, where upon his first steps into the Aura of Anti-Magic that surrounded The Second Ward, the necromantic energies that sustained him were stripped away, leaving only a corpse that crumpled to the floor, while also rendering Tulkaz’s Puzzle Box nothing more than a piece of mundane wood, which was then broken open to reveal a serrated Key.

This is honesty one of the proudest and funniest moments there’s been in the Campaign so far, as absolutely zero Party Members wanted to fight Lord Ran, a CR 19 Death Knight, and so had to “Get Creative!” to find a way of getting the Key from him without fighting him...

Using this Key, the Party was able to open The Metal Door that was The Second Ward of Tulkaz, where they found an empty space beyond, with a single pink jewel suspended in place.

Carina, being the bold scientist of the Group and willing to test her hypothesis, touched the pink gemstone and was scattered into a Pocket Dimension, as she was then shortly followed by Innocence, as they both found themselves falling into a deep blue ocean.

And so, after a brief stint of panic from falling into the ocean, Carina and Innocence swam to the shore of this otherworldly jungle, arriving on the beaches of an Otherworldly Isle in the middle of a vast blue expanse, where they now hope to navigate the new place they find themselves in, still on the hunt for Tulkaz’s Hidden Phylactery.

Like The Highlights? Join The Server!

Do you like what you see? Want some more context on the Party’s shenanigans or an end to those massive cliff-hangers?

Well come on down and enjoy the Games as they happen by joining the Official CreativeRogues Discord Server, and perhaps even join or create your own Games!

You can join the Server as a New Member right now by using our Link: Right Here!

[frontseatpocket]

i’m not a huge meta person/investigator, i’m much more “this makes my brain go wee” when watching critrole. but i honestly haven’t stopped thinking about tharizdun since it was discovered he was behind the angel of irons business. cause like, all the m9 did was kill some cultists and obann. which in the scheme of god things is a pretty small sect. and tharizdun has been nicknamed the “eater of worlds” and when the m9 had the vision about the floating city - it was this overall feeling of “hunger” right? and jester has said it felt like it “just wants to destroy everything”. and also! the somnovum have been described as mad by lucien. and tharizduns worshippers are often insane! and i’ve been rewatching c1 and vecna, aka the big bad, was first mentioned in episode 35! and then forgotten about until matt pulled him out again in the final arc like a big old whammy. and i think matt just loooooves shit like this. repeating themes. everything being connected etc. it seems so perfect for them to think the floating city aeor shenanigans are something new and unheard of and then they turn around bam! it’s just the fucking chained oblivion again! anyways i’m currently just pepe silvia meme-ing about it over here

[bestworstcase]

18 & 20!

writer asks

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

WELL

bitter snow has the “cassandra raised by sirin” au which i’ve been meaning to talk about ever since i posted chapter 15, so might as well do that here: 

cassandra casāndra witnesses her parents’ arrests but is a little better hidden, so sir peter never finds her + she is adopted by aunt sirin instead

so sirin’s family is. sirin hároham, her partner mainé dathamar, their kids tathēdora (9) and cornaīn (7), plus cas who is 4. mainé and tath are both ill and mainé in rapid decline; sirin, cornaīn, and cas are all distraught; the socona community is decimated and reeling. it’s bad times.

mainé dies about a month after the arrest, while tath lingers in ill health, neither recovering nor getting any worse. (this is the norm among survivors of the crop sickness.) sirin channels a lot of grief into knitting the community back together + trying to scrape together some semblance of safety + taking care of the kids. 

so cas grows up in the thorn syconium/zhan tiri’s cult + all this trauma + the youngest of three siblings whom she loves but also, because she’s cas, has a bit of a rivalry thing going on with + her natural ambition and what all of that combines into is. cas is just as intensely loyal and eager to impress as she is with her dad in bitter snow and canon but it’s all directed at sirin / the cult / saporia in general and.. no one is going to arbitrarily stand in her way, and instead of Desperately wanting to be a guard she Desperately wants to be the one who frees zhan tiri vhbhjdfhbjsdf

anyway

rapunzel’s and varian’s backstories are the same

moira caine’s is also the same (her mom, lada caine, is disabled as a result of crop sickness, dad gets arrested, she and lada move in with fraternal aunt neasa, they’re dirt poor until caine hits her mid-teens and takes up piracy) with the exception that she and cas do meet as kids / moira and cornaīn are kinda friends and cas is their obnoxious tagalong. they don’t know each other Well because the caines are in alcorsīa and that’s a ways from socona but they do encounter each other every so often during big religious festivals etc.

because peter doesn’t have an orphaned saporian kid to occupy him when the search for rapunzel starts to range beyond corona, he ends up in vardaros the spring after the kidnapping, following a lead that turns out to be a dead end. while he’s in the city a grubby five-year-old tries to pick his pocket and that’s how eugene fitzherbert gets adopted by a sergeant of the coronan royal guard and grows up to be basically Flynn Rider, But A Cop

*deep breath*

tath passes away due to complications of the chronic crop sickness in 1669 PE, when cas is 17 and cornaīn is 20. the family is devastated; cornaīn takes off for alcorsīa with the vague intention of joining the separatists as kind of a way of retaliating, and through a series of shenanigans ends up reconnecting with moira + joining the crew of the zampermin + supporting moira’s subsequent mutiny + becoming first mate on the zampermin under moira’s captaincy

cornaīn is killed during a battle at sea three years later in 1672 PE. cas takes to wandering / exploring a lot while sirin sort of snaps; in bitter snow proper this is the point where sirin’s plans in benighted start to really take shape but in this au well. Guess Who Finds Rapunzel In The Tower.

cue “well okay i'll take you to see the lanterns but also, this is going to sound weird but bear with me, can we take a detour to free my god from her prison with your hair?”

so cas and rapunzel make a pit stop at janus point en route to herzingen and while the sundrop by itself isn’t enough to free zhan tiri completely they do make a nice big crack in the wall for her to squeeze through so. well. you know: 

- cas, rapunzel, pascal, and zhan tiri head to herzingen so rapunzel can see the floating lights zhan tiri can conspire with this excellent new disciple and get the sundrop on her side

- gothel, realizing what happened, goes to herzingen in a rage, finds what seems like an easy mark in eugene—who is a respected member of the guard at this point but also has a lazy streak and is a bit callous and interested to a fault in personal enrichment because, again, flynn rider but a cop—and gets in his ear about saving the lost princess from zhan tiri’s cultists and then he’ll have all the riches and admiration he could possibly ask for :) 

- basically her plan is to wind him up and hurl him at cas + zhan tiri so she can “rescue” rapunzel and vanish into the night with her

my elaborate musings on this au sort of peter out at this point but i like to think there’s some big messy confrontation + cas gets stabbed by gothel + gothel does in fact get away with rapunzel and then... something something reluctant allies eugene and cas go after rapunzel with varian + lance + caine all getting dragged into it and then it’s wacky eldritch adventures all the way home. nonsense. 

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

ohhhh boy.

- i love writing dream sequences in general and the ones in benighted are fun because they all come from the various. entities of the sublime realm. and i have just been having a lot of fun kinda... playing with the imagery and weaving in hints about what’s coming vis a vis the sundrop/moonstone and zhan tiri lore. all the dreams are important / have meaning beyond the obvious of freaking the characters having them out. 

- the characters didn’t mention it in the moment because it felt wrong for them to do so / they had much bigger problems but the final scene of chapter 19 takes place on varian’s 15th birthday, the 2nd of Sicáraen. i didn’t do this on purpose (the way i pin things down on the timeline is largely based on travel times between different locations and that scene falling on that day was coincidental) but jksdkjlkbhhjsdfj this poor boy

- in-universe, there are 42 days remaining until benighted ends. this isn’t important i just think it’s neat. 

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Speaking of, idea for Ash's next Pokemon: a straight up "cultist."

We have a episode like the Mt Moon one from Season 1, Ash and Goh go (eh) somewhere with strange Pokemon activity has been found, and after some Shenanigans they find a underground cult of Legendary Worshipping Pokemons, with makeshift shrines to the gods and shit.

The Cult Leader is a Clefairy, so to contrast between her cute exterior and the deranged interpretative songs and dances she does when giving her speeches, and she is, like, a fervent believer. Meowth shows up at some point and translates her Manifesto for the humans, she basically acts like a Team Leader from a game, trying to summon her gods but failing, shenanigan ensue...

Then around the end of the episode she does manage to summon one God (I'm partial to Giratina but anyone else can do), which leads to the following episode with the Legendary Rampaging, ash saving the pokemon and Team Rocket and the local human town, and then placating the God by being, well, Ash.

Clefairy The Cult Leader is stunned at this because this 10 year old kid just talked to a god like it was their old friend, god they only managed to summon now after years of failures with this kid here, so she decides to switch the worship unto Ash, convinces him to catch her, and then has the rest of the cult caught by Goh to join up with her.

Ending of the episode is the cult building a shrine to the Gods in the pokemon reserve but putting Ash at the bottom as a Messianic figure, and the Cult Leader Clefairy spends the rest of the season trying to either repeat the thing with the other gods trying to use Ash as a Catalyst or to convert other Pokemon into the Ash Cult, either wild or already caught.

Except she's still a Clefairy and later Cleffable (The evolution happens during an actual Mt Moon Episode with them going there again and the Actual Moon Stone Cult shunning Clefairy the Cult Leader for being a different Cult) so she looks cute and innocent to all but, like, Meowth and Pikachu, but then we have shots of her with a anime villain deranged smile as she does some shady shit to the side, or exposes her evil plan to herself, but is all in Clefairy so we get nothing, aside from Meowth commenting some times about how she is so fucking Creepy because he might be a evil poke-robber but AT LEAST he doesn't try to facilitate the end of days by using the Twerp as a lab rat, and Pikachu valiantly protecting Ash, unaware, in his sleep as Clefairy tries to steal some hair from him for some dread ritual or another, the only member of the gang who knows something was up.

[inventors-fair]

Herald Commentary

I’m happy with the wide range of cards that people jumped into for this contest! There was a wide range, but a lot of modern ideas. I think because of Magic’s contemporary focus on legendary creatures, many people sought ideas that came from more recent sets. Looking at the entries, what do you think?

Let’s get to commentary!

@ace-hobo​ — Caller of Devastation

That’s a pretty cool name, and it’s an interesting flavor that you’re going for. I would have rather seen a card that focused on a singular card and follower, one that fits an isolated flavor. For the sake of this contest, it makes sense that you would name the cards. I could see this printed in a regular set as a card that tutored for a God creature card or something.

@aethernalstars​ — Caller of the Harvest

Alright, it took me a second to understand this card. I don’t think that almost-irremovable devotion is a pain in extended formats, but in a vacuum it’s a pain in the butt, and I’m not a huge fan. Still, a cool idea for mechanical execution. Still trying to figure out how a plant becomes a cleric. Additionally, those symbols: it should be “GW, T:” with the comma and space.

@cas-420 — Crackling Boltkin

Now this is fun. Honestly, I would have liked this card better as either a graveyard summon or a library summon, not both. I’m really proud of you for the wording on this, though. It’s a complex idea that you pulled off well. The double triggers plus the double search makes this card feel like it’s trying to do a little too much, but I like the name and I like the concept. It feels like a contemporary elemental.

@dabudder​ — Gerrard, Legacy Protector

It’s interesting to see white using the graveyard as a “keep this secret safe” kind of thing. I think. Man, that ability though... I can imagine this being pretty crazy broken in some capacity. Stacking a bunch of different legendary artifacts and big bombs or something... I don’t know, this card feels powerful and worrying but it probably isn’t broken. Small note: The card is just “Weatherlight” lol

@dimestoretajic​ — Yar-Kul, the Maggot

I actually remember reading about Yargle way back in the Dominaria days. Man, wish I could have afforded more Magic back then... Anyway. I personally find the “card within a card” concept pretty fun. There’s nothing really objectively wrong with this card. If I had to find a criticism, it feels minorly clunky that one legend is a search while one is just a sacrifice. Comparing that to that Reef Worm thing from the Commander set, it’s just a little iffy. But it fulfills the contest and I like it.

@ezurad​ — Mad Cultist

Looks like you forgot to change the name in that activated ability there? Always always proofread. Conceptually, I think I like this card. For a common, I would have added reminder text to the Madness instead of adding flavor text, as cool as the flavor is. Interesting take on an “any number of X” ability. This card also needs a shuffle clause after the search, FYI. Not a bad entry!

@fractured-infinity​ — Hunter’s Prey

I don’t know enough about the Ikoria storyline, and that’s on me. Regardless, I get it, and it’s a fine enough tutor even if it is pretty easy to abuse. It’s a unique take on the tutor, and it’s a cool flavor to set out prey to summon your Snapdax. Two wording criticisms: One, the name doesn’t need to be in quotes; and Two, the shuffle clause can be added to the previous sentence e.g. “When ~ dies, its owner may search their library for a card named Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle their library.” Minor things, no biggie.

Genex-P — Herald of the Night

We’re going WAY back. I had to search this card because I was actually totally unfamiliar by name alone. I really like that! And holy crap, I didn’t know that Nightstalker was a real creature type. I do wish that the tokens contributed to the search, though. It feels weird that the first ability still requires you to have a different Nightstalker to activate it. Still, neat idea, pretty fun, and a great old callback with modern updates. Amazing flavor text, too.

@gollumni​ — Incarnation of Aclazotz

And I’m also not super familiar with Ixalan story, either, but that doesn’t mean this card isn’t cool. It’s complex, and it’s a little confusing to take things and turn them about, but the card itself plays well. I would really have liked for that token to have indestructible, personally, but that would have been a little too powerful for five mana. Still, cool concept, and an interesting “land tutor” in black.

@greensunzenith​ — Meroe Revane

Flavorfully, I think this card is really cool, even if I’m not positive that it makes sense considering... Would Nissa’s mom be on Zendikar where all this takes place? IDK. Anyway, mechanically, the fact that you have to have to have both the cards to do anything is a big ask. Nissa Revane, the card, was pretty egregious for asking to have that card itself. But yeah, I’m not the biggest fan of this card’s mechanics. Still a fun card conceptually.

@gus-goose — Herald of the Hunt

Another Snapdax stan? Did Snapdax become the ultimate Ikoria stan when I wasn’t looking? Anyway. I think that the combination of cards is a flavorful way to express devotion to Snapdax and I like how you included the mutate clause. I’m not a fan of how the ability works mechanically. Building around this card is pretty moot, because the setup feel like too much when you could just get Snapdax itself. Were there enough of those in Ikoria? There were a lot of creatures there... I don’t know, this card just feels like too much work.

@haru-n-harkel​ — Moonrise Dragster

I like the concept of searching for a flavorful aura like Caught in the Brights. It’s a fun and interesting way of tutoring for control cards. There’s a lot about this card that I’m not sure I understand. Why such a high crew cost? The mana cost to P/T ratio feels all out of whack. I’m also not sure why there’s the “doesn’t untap” clause. Is it flavorful? Is it a mechanical addition? I just don’t “get” a lot of this card’s decisions. Power-level wise, getting the aura from your graveyard is too much. It’s not a weak enchantment. 

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ — Devotee’s Squire

It’s a cute idea, I think. A little bit underwhelming to search for a card to search for a card. I’m not sure why this card mechanically exists. Flavorfully, this also takes place on Theros, Greek mythology, which as far as I know doesn’t have knights or squires.

@ignorantturtlegaming​ — Whirling Waves

This card is...powerful. I think the first ability is crazy, but fine. Second ability is insanely overpowered in limited. Third ability is holy cow powerful, assuming you mean “X on each” and not “X distributed.” Conceptually, I like this card a lot and I think that it’s a cool summon. In practical terms, the power level needs significant tweaking.

@karkatvantasticvantas​ — The Second Scourge

Interesting! “Tapped and crewing” is a fantastic little tweak with a flavorful idea behind it that I fully support. Seven mana for that cost, though, is... It feels like a little much, but it probably isn’t? I would have made this card colorless, honestly. I don’t think the Grixis colors are really useful here. “Menace” should be lowercase. This is a unique card, and I think I like it. Probably should be a rare.

@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Krajling Incubator

“Egg Ooze.” Love it. Great flavor text and a pretty fun card that’s very Simic. Two small notes: “Remove” should be capitalized, and the card needs a shuffle clause. Aside from that, I think that this card is a pretty fun uncommon. I wish there was a way that it could put counters on creatures.

@misterstingyjack​ — End Times Proselytizer

Thirteen colorless nonland permanents is a LOT. Even if you get something crazy off that first trigger, getting up there is a lot. Thirteen creatures would be enough, honestly. If you would have an easier time casting Emrakul by herself than using this card, then things might be a little too crazy. Also, why doesn’t the first ability just say “for each non-Eldrazi creature that died this turn”? I think this is a cool card, but it’s just not as good as the creature you’re searching for. I do love how you cast it from outside the game.

@ozthearistocrat​ — Oketra’s Blade

It’s a concept that I appreciate for sure. Getting a creature at different points in the story feels like a Time Spiral-esque idea. Honestly, though, I’m not a fan of the mechanics here. There are two different sets for a reason, and the spirit of the contest is a little different than that. Still, not a bad idea. FYI, I would really look into getting your MSE set up with fonts, because this card is REALLY hard to read.

@real-aspen-hours​ — Oracle of Oracle of Mul Daya

10/10. In all seriousness, keep this in a file for something that can let you play land and Shaman cards from the top of your library or something. Not a bad concept. I am laughing at the name, though.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ — Terrible Flamespeaker

Once more, the name of the card doesn’t need to be in quotes. As for the card’s mechanics, this one is interesting. I like how it encourages mono-red shenanigans. It’s a powerful on-curve card by itself which is pretty cool. I like how it tells the story of a world more than it does of a legendary creature, even if it is a rare searching for a rare, which feels... IDK, a little off with the nature of this contest. There’s nothing objectively wrong with this card besides the quotes, though, so call it a success.

@shakeszx — Beast Blessed Sword

Was there something about the Eldraine story that I missed? When was there a sword involved? Why isn’t there a hyphen to make it “Beast-Blessed” - unless it’s a different meaning? I’m a little confused. Regardless, the card itself I like. It’s recursion for Kenrith, which is a pain in the ass, but it’s a fun card regardless, I think. Having played against Kenrith, I’m not the biggest fan, but I know he’s fun to play, so I can’t complain.

@shandylamb​ — Scrap // Salvage

Okay. Straight-up, this card is doing too much. If this was on an actual Aftermath card, it would be packed to the gills and be practically unreadable. Scrap is probably the best side, even though it should say “put it onto the battlefield” and just “sacrifice an artifact” since you can only sacrifice permanents you control anyway. Salvage is just... I don’t know, I don’t get it. It requires both a legendary permanent and a target for it, and it doesn’t feel like a legendary event. The thing about “legendary” instants and sorceries was that they had a creature or planeswalker attached to them that made them feel epic. This card just doesn’t have that. I feel like you put too many ideas into too small a space.

@sigiledpaladin​ — Alarm of the Tenth

Why does this card search your graveyard too? That’s one hair in an otherwise fine cupcake of a card. It’s just a bit of a shame that it doesn’t “do” anything when it first comes out. Also, the second sentence should be “This ability costs (4) less to activate if [etc].” It’s a fine tutor, just a little underwhelming.

@snugz​ — Sliver Hivecaller

Would you believe that I actually love this card? Would you also believe that, in my opinion, this card would have been a winner......... if it wasn’t a Sliver? With the exception of the old legendary Slivers, all Slivers should inform other Slivers. And, well, this card doesn’t feel like a sliver. I love it, I really do. But it’s just not Sliver-y. I know that’s useless and boring commentary, but man, trust me, this card is great. Just make it, like, a Human Shaman or something? Ooh, or a mutant.

@starch255​ — Oracle of Ancestry

This card would break eternal formats. Tutoring for Ancestral Recall and Brainstorm is... Wow. I don’t know, I might just be paranoid, but “tutor for some of the most powerful draw and thinning in Magic’s history” is something to be paranoid about, right? I’m not going crazy? Considering the wide range of formats and places that these cards come from, it’s not out of the question to assume that that was the intention of the card. Not sure how I feel about that.

@yesimnotrealanymore — Rise of Emrakul

The good: It’s certainly flavorful. The criticism:

3BBBB is way too costly, and color-heavy.

You don’t necessarily need “a” in that first ability. Just “Create Cryptolith”

Second ability should be two sentences. “Its,” not “it’s”

“Destroy up to four target creatures. For each creature destroyed this way, its controller creates a colorless 3/2 Eldrazi creature token.”

The Roman numeral for four is “IV.”

In order for that last ability to work, Emrakul would need three time counters on it and then gain vanishing. Additionally, we need to suspend our disbelief that both sagas and vanishing exist in the same set as Eldritch Moon.

~

Thank you all for your entries! A new legendary contest starts tomorrow.