#again for anyone coming across this in the curse of strahd tag

[madammayh3m]

Moonlight

372 words. A pre-canon ficlet my DM wrote as a response/companion piece to Sunshine and gave me permission to post. Again, not really spoilers for anything in Curse of Strahd, just more setting information and mention of an NPC.

Laughter in Barovia is like magic, I have found. While everyone is capable of it, only a few really use it. And maybe that is why we never quite fit in. Mama loved to laugh, and Daddy loved making her. So when we settled in Vallaki after catching a one way ticket to the grimmest place on earth I thought that maybe we were just what the town needed. That thought didn’t last long. We soon realized why no one was laughing, no one had the strength to. Or if they did it was out of fear-driven madness. Barovia did that to people. It either wore you down till there was nothing left or drove you mad.

So after I lost Mom and Pop there was little left for me but to let this place grind me down. Father Lucian was alright and does his best. He’s stronger than most I think, he hasn’t quite worn down yet. I don’t know if it is faith or his own personal internal power but I don’t think he's one for losing his mind.

I miss the sunshine. I miss the way it felt coming through windows and how it could change the colors of the world to be wildly bright after being in a gloom. I missed lifting my face up and feeling the heat of it on my cheeks and nose. But what I miss more is the moonlight.

The ever present cloud cover doesn’t even share the moon and stars. I remember laying in the grass and looking up at the thousands of stars and my Daddy telling me stories about each one. My favorite nights were when the moon was so full and bright the world shone in silver light. Still water turned to glass and the dew turned to diamonds on the grass.

I know when I talk about it Thais doesn’t really understand. I don’t think that girl has seen a proper night's sky in her life. But the fact she listens means a lot. Not a lot of people do that anymore. I hope I am around when there is a clear night. Then I’ll sneak Thais out to the lake and I’ll show her what moonlight can do.

[rissi-chan]

OC Name Meanings

I wasn't tagged, but I saw this come across my dash and I really want to do it ( I have OC mania/brainrot, and I am not sorry)

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’s name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too

Tagging: Literally ANYONE that wants to do it - everyone deserves a chance to rant (I know it's less of a "game" that way, but we all deserve some fun!) I WILL directly call out @rishamonkey and @apriltastic tho <3

Neri (Dekarios, after she marries Gale): Pronounced nair-ee, rhymes with Mary. (Hebrew: נֵרִי) (lit. "my candle/lamp") is a unisex given name mainly used in Israel. It's derived from "Ner" which means candle in Hebrew. It is a variant form of "Neriya",[1] meaning "Yah (יהו/יה) is my candle (נֵרִי)".

I actually didn't know this meaning (I came across the name one day when I was researching for work and I loved it), but it fits SO WELL for her character both in Curse of Strahd and BG3. Like, if I didn't know that I HADN'T planned that, that would feel VERY planned.

Dighnilah Khayali: Pronounced deny-la kai-yah-lee. Dighnilah I made up. I've always been a language lover/linguist at heart, and language learning and foreign languages were my focus of study in college. It's one of the few things I'm naturally good with, and I also experience ASMR, so the way words sound hold special meaning on their own for me. That's how I came up with Dighnilah - purely by sound. I liked how it sounded and felt in my mouth (lol). If I were to make up a definition/meaning it would be something like "Unbridled elegance."

Khayali: Originating from Indian and Bengali languages, Khayali is a lovely girl’s name that means “a woman lost in her own wonderland.”

Riza (no known surname): Pronounced ree-zah. As an Indonesian and Albanian name, Riza comes from the Arabic name Ridha (رضا), which means 'satisfaction' or 'contentment.' I didn't choose this name based on meaning, either, but once again by sound. However, since I didn't make this one up and it is a real name, I had to look up the meaning. And, hey, it also really works for her character! Am I . . . intuitive about name meanings based on sound? (jk, I wish I were that powerful).

Leone Trevelyan: Pronounced lee-own. Meaning "lion." Leone is a gender-neutral name of Latin origin. I didn't choose based on meaning (I'm clearly bad at that, huh?) but rather it is the name of a sibling of one of my grandpas (great aunt?) that I always loved the sound of. Plus the one time I visited her she made me pie and pie is my favorite, so fond memories all around. I also liked how it flowed with the default "Trevelyan" name of a human MC in DAI.

However, considering she romances Cullen, the whole "lion" thing, once again, fits XD

Margu Amell: Pronounced mar-goo. Meaning "name of a goddess." Derived from Hindu (though there are MANY cultures and languaged that use this name). Although this is my DAO mage warden's name, I actually most recently (and in the first place) used it for the Touchstarved demo, in which MC has no known surname. And given that THAT character has the "Fallen Oracle" background the name is once again incredibly suited!