#aldric is a special boy

[f1shart]

sims 3 lft but what the hell is wrong with them

@budgieflitter i. remembered. from that post 4 months ago about ts3 almeric licking that gay popsicle where i think i said that i'd show the rest of them and i literally never did. and even now i still didn't!!! smh i'll make a part 2 when i get better photos (or time....)

does he ever shut the fuck up

[cait-curious]

Out on his own, away from his brothers, Aldric decided to invite a girl over to the dorms. He decided on Rosa Broke- he was really attracted to her, and thought that since he was a young adult now, he might have a chance with her.

"I just wanted to say, I think it's messed up how Donald attacked you at Danny's wedding," Aldric said. "Thanks Aldric, that's really sweet of you. Donald and Walter were just on edge about this baby," Rosa explained with her hands on her round belly. "Why? Walter's the father, right?" Aldric asked. "Well, it's complicated," Rosa said.

Aldric furrowed his brow. He had never had WooHoo, but it didn't seem all that complicated to him. He decided to drop the subject, because he didn't want to upset Rosa.

They continued talking into the night, and Aldric worked up the courage to go in for his first kiss.

"Y'know, Rosa, I think you're really special," Aldric said as he touched her cheek. "You're a nice boy, Aldric," Rosa said. She was fully aware that this was the third Cormier brother she was getting involved with, and she was also seeing their father on the side. But one kiss can't hurt, right?

Rosa navigated around the familiar hooked Cormier nose to give Aldric his very first kiss.

[bridenore]

Author rec : Femmequixotic

One of my favorite authors by far. Here are a few recs, listed in alphabetical order. I’ve read most of those stories multiple times, without any regrets.

***

All I Want For Christmas (Is For You To Stop Talking) by @femmequixogtic and @noeeon [162k]

The Niffler's Garden is the most prestigious wizarding nursery school in England and has been for the last century or more. Harry Potter's boys are both enrolled as pupils at the Garden. When he volunteers to assist with the Yule pageant, he has no idea that he'll be working closely with another parent, Draco Malfoy. Although they haven't seen each other much since their own school days, Harry faults Malfoy for not being a hands-on dad to little Scorpius. Will the intense weeks of preparation fan the fires of enmity or something else entirely?

Warnings: Background discussion of divorce, coming out, parenting, very brief mention of difficult pregnancy.

As Magic As It Gets by @femmequixotic [9k]

The last person Draco expects to see in the office of his relocation charity is Harry bloody Potter.

As soul from bodies steal by @femmequixotic [40k]

Hope may be found in the oddest of places, even in the bleakness of winter.

Black Holes and Revelations by @femmequixotic [38k]

What was meant to be an unexpected one-off in the loo of a Camden bar turns into something rather different, much to Harry and Draco's surprise.

Boom Clap (The Sound of My Heart) by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [39k]

Post-war Hogwarts has been energized by its new teaching fellows program. Where once bitter enmity divided the wizarding community, Malfoy and Potter chummily patrol hallways together whilst Granger and Zabini seek lost parts of the castle at McGonagall’s behest and Chang supervises Quidditch when not lecturing in Charms. It’s a veritable wizarding utopia and life is predictable for the first time in years. Which is, of course, when everything blows apart as the result of a drunken dare and Malfoy’s life is ruined beyond his capacity to repair it. Ever. In a million years.

Can't Get You Out of My Head by @femmequixotic [14k]

After he sees Harry Potter naked in the Auror showers once, Draco can't stop thinking about him. 

Lost In Your Arms by @femmequixotic [257k]

Three months after their brief encounter, Draco has almost forgotten about Potter--or so he tells himself. Then a Dark wizard shows up on the Auror radar and all hell breaks loose. Draco will have to choose between everything he holds dear--everything he's worked so hard for--and a few stolen moments of passion with a certain green-eyed Inspector, once his sworn enemy and now something rather different entirely. He'll make the right choice, won't he?

Who is he kidding? He'll ruin everything, as per usual. Bad choices and the name Malfoy go hand in hand.

These Secrets In Me by @femmequixotic [357k]

Auror Special Branch team seven-four-alpha--Sergeant Draco Malfoy, Constable Pansy Parkinson, and Constable Blaise Zabini led by their SIO, Inspector Harry Potter--must handle personal and political fallout from the implication of Ministry employees and Aurors in the scandal around escaped Death Eaters and a Dementor uprising at Azkaban. On top of that, their original target, Antonin Dolohov, is in the wind.

With all the ruckus, it's a good thing they have help from Unspeakable Hermione Granger, American Unspeakable, Legilimens, and Harry's recent ex, Jake Durant, Blaise's legendary necromancer grandfather, Barachiel Dee, and his potions expert mother, Olivia Zabini. What could possibly go wrong with an army of best friends, ex-lovers, and family? Especially when you add the strong-willed Parkinson clan to the mix.

Meanwhile, troubling new leads arise, taking Our Team in a surprising direction.

And Draco, still hiding his relationship with his SIO from the upper echelons of the Auror force, is definitely not falling in love with Harry Potter along the way. Not at all. Don't be ridiculous.

Dare To Think by @femmequixotic [388k]

After recent events in New York, Seven-Four-Alpha are set to return back to London. They've captured their primary target, but by no means settled their case. They've still got rogue Dementors at Azkaban, prying investigators from Luxembourg, and a far larger Death Eater threat to manage, not to mention pressure from their own higher ups. Draco is reeling from his loss, and Harry is trying to be the best boyfriend he can, which may mean not being Draco's guv any longer. Harry's uncertain what his team'll find as they press deeper in the investigation, but he knows they will all be tested, perhaps more than they can bear.

But they haven't a choice, have they? It's the bloody Death Eaters, after all, and the political integrity of Wizarding Britain and their magical allies hangs in the balance.

Set Me Free by @femmequixotic [196k] *Incomplete

Seven-Four-Alpha are back in London with available resources of the Ministry tracking their every move. Draco Malfoy remains lost, last seen in Thibodaux, Louisiana, as MACUSA was closing in. Harry is raging, barely in control of his magic, and the rest of the team are battered and unsure. Their recent failure haunts them, as does the spectre of a MACUSA-Ministry alliance under the control of the Quahog administration and its shadow puppetmaster, Aldric Yaxley. The Dementor crisis with Luxembourg is brewing in the background, as is a conflict with Rodolphus Lestrange. And that's not even mentioning the bargain Blaise struck with Death to return his cup. The team have very little energy or resources for one fight, much less several of this magnitude simultaneously.

Should they fail, though, political tyranny will grip both sides of the Atlantic and evils recently banished may return. Each of them is fighting for something they hold dear, but no victory comes without a price. Still, desperate situations call for desperate measures, and desperation appears to be all they have.

Cigarettes will kill you by @femmequixotic [3k]

He lights a cigarette across the pub, his hand cupped to his mouth as the tip sparks to life in a faint orange flare, and my breath catches.

Kiss A Boy In London Town (And Other Intimate Misadventures of A Society Whore) by @femmequixotic [36k]

There's only one cardinal sin for a whore.

Let's Dance To Joy Division by @femmequixotic [12k]

Let the love tear us apart, I've found a cure for a broken heart...

Little Talks by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [11k]

Draco's been shagging the Head Auror for months now, and he's sure it's just a fling. Until Harry asks him to a Quidditch match, that is, and things go horribly wrong.

Once upon a time, yesterday by @femmequixotic [22k]

"You've always been obsessed with Malfoy, Harry. That should probably tell you something."

Pocket Full Of Starlight (Never Let It Fade Away) by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [46k]

When Scorpius Malfoy and Jamie Potter meet at Quidditch camp, they take an instant dislike to each other. Then they discover their lives are more connected than they could possibly imagine.

Reading Malfoy by @femmequixotic [15k]

After thirteen years of hiding himself away in Muggle London, Draco Malfoy shows up again in the wizarding world--with a wickedly amusing memoir in hand. Harry doesn't want to read it. Really. He doesn't.

Sæglópur by @femmequixotic [34k]

After a difficult breakup, Draco finds himself dragged to the land of magic, law, and natural wonders where, of course, nothing goes as planned.

Says the magpie to the morning  by @femmequixotic [33k]

It's terribly bad form, sleeping with your ex when you're still half in love with the bastard.

The Silent World Within You by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [95k]

Harry only wanted Malfoy for one night, one birthday. It wasn’t meant to be anything more.

Take A Sad Song (And Make It Better) by @femmequixotic [46k]

The last thing Harry wants is to lose his kids.

Things Worth Knowing by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [164k]

After the Battle, Harry thinks he's left Hogwarts for good, but Minerva insists that all students return for an Eighth Year if they wish to sit for NEWTs in the spring, and Harry needs those NEWTs to go into the Aurors. Draco's just grateful not to be in Azkaban. Or the Manor. He's hoping he can steer clear of Potter this year and grapple with his own problems. Unfortunately for him, Potter appears to be one of those problems. And that's not even addressing the fact that Potter's got serious issues of his own, which Draco realises as he's forced to share an Eighth Year dormitory room and several classes with the Gryffindor Git. If only they can make it through the year without killing each other, it should be all right, shouldn't it?

Unkissed Kisses and Songs Never Sung by @femmequixotic [12k]

I sit silently in the shadows, staring at the tiny, pulsing ball of light that tells me my Harry's still alive.

Waiting By An Open Door by @femmequixotic and @noeeon [29k]

Draco starts following Potterwatch secretly during the War. He wishes Potter would come save him too. But that sort of thing only happens in fairy tales, and Malfoys don't get fairy tale endings, do they?

We Are Young (I'll Carry You Home Tonight) by @femmequixotic [68k]

Harry and Draco have been falling into bed on and off again since the last election five years ago, much to the amusement--and financial gain--of their circle of friends. But when Harry agrees to work with Draco to put Kingsley Shacklebolt into the Minister's office, they can't work side-by-side again every day and sleep together; that would be courting disaster. Wouldn't it?

The Weight of a Wanting Heart by @femmequixotic [11k]

After nearly two decades hidden away in the Wiltshire countryside, Draco Malfoy’s surprised to see a familiar face come into his local.

When You Kiss Me (What A Lovely Way To Burn) by @femmequixotic [22k]

A drag fairytale of New York in which Draco wears red lipstick and Potter can’t get enough.

The Years That Walk Between by @femmequixotic [15k]

Draco finds his way after the war.

***

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did!

[your-turn-to-role]

~guess who's thinking about caleb again~

i haven't watched the latest ep yet, waiting for it to go up on youtube, but i've seen a couple scenes around and i know i'm gonna have a whole other post to write when i get context on those, so might as well put this up now

bc i was going back and watching the confrontation with the scourger in episode 70, and i'm really fascinated by the line "she is me if i had turned out to be me"?

bc like... liam does a really good job of playing this character dealing with incredible trauma and the after effects of abuse and radicalization, but the other narrative that caleb thoroughly embodies is that of the prodigy, the gifted child. and that's one thing that doesn't even need a great evil to cause, just a few genuinely well meaning people who think they know the kind of person you'll turn out to be

kids like that, aren't raised to believe skill is something you work at. they're raised to believe skill is something you are. either you're innately talented, or you're not, it's not something you control. but if you are talented (and i use that word specifically here to mean "showing signs of being good at the things society values"), then that's something you're praised for, typically the only thing you're praised for, and you know, kids like being praised, they like feeling special and important and valued. and sooner or later it kind of becomes your whole identity, because that's all you've ever been told you are. and as you grow you're continually held to that standard and not really given any room to make a mistake, because once you do it means you've failed, and you can't fail, so you must not be you anymore. and if you're not you, you're not anyone, so how can you expect to have value?

it shouldn't really be a surprise therefore, that kids like that become incredibly easy to manipulate, and in the case of caleb and the other vollstreckers, to radicalize. you've been held to arbitrary standards your whole life, adding more means nothing to you. you've been raised to believe that your worth is based on how well you achieve, specifically how well you achieve compared to others, and that's a measure decided by your teacher. you have an innate sense of superiority for being better than everyone else, because this is the place you've been raised to believe you deserve, but it's also the place that one misstep will have it taken from you.

those kids wouldn't have complained, because that would make them failures, secretly unworthy. abuse gets by without a word because it's now a competition to see who can put up with the most shit without breaking, to see who's stronger. being hurt is a point of pride, having residuum shoved into your arms is a good thing, because it makes you special, and important, and it reminds you you're not a failure. it makes you stronger. as long as you keep enduring it, you still have value.

and then it goes deeper still, because this makes kids who at their core are scared. scared of messing up. scared that one step out of line will be the end of everything they've ever known. scared of their own emotions, ashamed of having them. scared of being anything but what they're told to be. absolute trust in their teacher, not because he's worthy of it, but because they have no choice. at this point, they believe all this too. so why wouldn't they trust him? he's the one making them stronger, he's the one keeping them perfect.

he's also the one with the ability to take all that away, but that wouldn't happen to them, that's for the other people, the failures. the failures deserve it.

and if he gives them a list of people he says are traitors to the empire and deserve to die, they believe it. and they need some kind of control in their life, some outlet for every emotion they're not allowed to feel, and anger and pain make pretty good ones in a pinch.

which brings us to caleb. and the way he talks about who he used to be.

because on one hand, caleb has detatched himself a little from that line of thinking. it's been a long time since he was truly immersed in it. he realised ikithon had faked his memories and all of it was a lie, and he lost his trust in ikithon, in the cerberus assembly, in the empire.

he actually lost his trust in everything, because he didn't have trust in anything else. jester asks him if he still believes in what trent was preaching and he tells her he doesn't believe in anything anymore. he knows enough to know it all was wrong, but there was nothing left to fill in the gap, so he's just getting by the best he can and trying to figure it out.

but his identity, his sense of self, is still tied up with that boy who was on the fast track to becoming one of the assembly one day. look at how he talks about what happened, he doesn't say he got away from it, he says "i failed". caleb doesn't want to go back to the assembly, but his ideal self is still there. who he believes he is, is still there.

"if i had turned out to be me"

he does not in any way identify with the person he is right now. he doesn't even really see it as a person, because identity was always linked with achievement, with the empire. he's surviving, but he's not real.

and i think that's one of the reasons he has such a hard time detaching himself from who he was back then, what he did. why he believes without a doubt he is a bad person. why he's always the first to put himself down when nott says he's on his way to being something great. the main reason is of course that it was a hugely terrible and deeply traumatizing thing, but aside from that, all of this, everything he's done since he killed his parents, it's an afterthought. bren aldric ermendrud was a prodigy, caleb widogast is a failure and worth nothing.

bren aldric ermendrud was an evil person who murdered his entire family. caleb widogast can't forgive that, because caleb widogast has no value compared to the person he could have been. caleb widogast is a nice lie you tell people to make them feel better about a situation they can't fix. caleb widogast is a fairytale.

but caleb widogast is starting to be things. caleb widogast is a fighter, was a pirate, is a protector, is a revolutionary. caleb widogast has friends, and they're all traitors to the empire but he finds he doesn't care as much anymore, not like bren would.

bren's still in there, still disappointed over everything caleb's doing, still horrifically ashamed. still replaying the moment everything changed over and over in his head. but it's been a while since it paralysed him. it's gonna take caleb a while yet before he even realises he's still holding himself to those standards, and a hell of a lot longer to forgive himself, but i think when he does come to the realisation that he has worth as caleb, that'll be the first step

(and he'll always have scars, mental and physical, those are unavoidable, he's been through too much and done too much. but hopefully his friends can help him heal)

(and fuck i'm excited to see this further confrontation with the person who is a mirror of caleb's past future in all the worst ways)

[corinthian-og-begay-docrime]

Chapters: 2/20 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Nott/Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Caleb Widogast, Captain Avantika/Fjord (Critical Role), Beauregard/Jester Lavorre, Yasha/Zuala (Critical Role), Yeza Brenatto/Nott Characters: Nott (Critical Role), Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caduceus Clay, Jester Lavorre, Fjord (Critical Role), Yasha (Critical Role), Beauregard (Critical Role), Veth Brenatto, Bren Aldric Ermendrud, Kiri (Critical Role), Yeza Brenatto Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Human/Vampire Relationship, Vampire Hunters, Rape/Non-con Elements, Graphic Description, Murder, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Nonbinary Character, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Child Abuse, Best Friends, serial killer best friends, Blood and Gore, Blood Drinking, Implied/Referenced Torture Series: Part 1 of Nott and Caleb shenanigans, Part 2 of A complete collection of Widomauk Summary:

About 100 years ago the supernaturals revealed themselves to be real. 50 years ago humans and supernaturals started living in peace. Well mostly in peace, there is still a lot of crime that happens back and forth. Mollymauk and his best friend and partner Yasha are Zadash homicide detectives, they have just made a home here new to the town. They move into an apartment building owned by a perky woman with bright blue hair named Jester Lavorre. He ends up meeting Private investigators Nott and Yeza Brenatto, Cad the herbalist and Fortuneteller Caleb Widogast. They are all in his opinion oddballs. Then he meets Bryce and their ten-year-old daughter Kiri. He thinks nothing of it until his boss Norda tells him that there are a lot of supernaturals that live in Zadash. While on a case he meets Fjord a demon hunter and Beau a monk. Who revealed to him that his neighbors are all ancient vampires, Specifically serial killers and they are here to help get rid of the problem known as the Mighty Nein. Molly doesn't believe it until he catches his neighbors murdering someone. Caleb calmly explains to him that the men they killed deserved it.

VETH

The nine-year-old girl walked through the woods, it was the quickest way to get to Bren's house. Yeza was supposed to join her but he got sick with the plague.

        "Remember Veth, never walk in the woods alone." Her mother's words echoed through her ears. But she didn't listen, she should have listened to her mother. Halfway through the path, she was snatched up by a monster. She screamed when it lifted her up. Screamed when it bit her neck. She tried to fight back but it was too strong for her. The thing smiled at her baring its sharp teeth.

"Should I turn it?" it said

"Let me have a turn. I am hungry too," another voice said "It's food," the other monster reached for Veth. She bit its hand hard enough to draw blood. "Bitch!" it screamed "It bit me!" the thing grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to a pool of water and drowned her. They left her for dead. And she did die. But having bit one of the vampires and having its blood in her system she turned.

That night she woke up again, her throat burned. Everything was too loud. She walked the rest of the way to Bren's house. She needed help. He could help her. She hoped that he could help her. He was smart. She threw rocks at his window till he came downstairs. She could hear his heart racing the blood pumping through his veins.

"Veth," he said, "What happened to you?"

"I was attacked," she cried "I am not. I am not alive. I don't know what happened to me, I am not," she sobbed.

"Veth it's gonna be okay I am going to get my mother," he went back inside and got his mom. Bren's family are witches, they live outside of the village. They had no coven because they had been kicked out of their old one. Veth had never asked why all Bren had said was that it was because of him. Veth and Yeza are Bren's only two friends. Uma kneels down in front of Veth. She lays her hands on her son's best friend.

"Veth," she says quietly. "I am so sorry," she says

"What happened to me? Am I going to die?"

"I am afraid you already have died," she explains "You were attacked by vampires," she said "You have a choice to make,"

"What choice is that?" Veth asked

"You can choose to feed. Or if you don't feed then you will die,"  

"but I don't want to kill anyone," Veth said

"You don't have too, just a cup of human blood and you will be fine,"

"I don't want you to die," Bren said "You are my best friend,"

"We will protect you if you choose to feed," Uma said

"Ok," she said "I will go it. How exactly do I do it?" Veth asked

"I will be right back," she said leaving she came back with one of her bowls and a knife.

"Let me do it mother," Bren said

"Are you sure Bren?" Uma said

"Yes, She is my friend," he took the knife and cut his palm letting his blood drip into the bowl. Veth's mouth watered. Uma handed the bowl to Veth, while Veth drank from it Uma wrapped Bren's hand in a cloth.

YEZA

Yeza is also nine years old when he is turned. Veth turns him to save his life, she askes him before. He joins her and the Ermendrud family. He and Veth hunt animals in the woods, they stay away from humans. They help their new family, bring them food in the cold winters. Mentally they age, physically they stay the same. Nine-year-olds forever. They watch Bren grow their friendship strengthens as the years pass by. When they are fourteen or would be fourteen they get married. Yeza has always loved Veth. And Veth loves her back. Leofric Ermendrud marries them, he is happy to do it. Glad to see that they are happy even if they will never age, or grow old together. Bren is happy too, he wants his friends to be happy. And when they tell him he just smiles and says

"Well, it's about time,"

JESTER

Jester comes to them when Bren is 16 years old. The young girl herself is sixteen, while out gathering herbs for his mother, he, Veth, and Yeza find her. She is badly injured they take her home. Uma Ermendrud tried to heal her but the wounds are too deep. Veth sits with her in the middle of the night she stirs.

"Hello," Veth says

"Hi. Am I dying?"

"Yes, but you do not have to be. I am a vampire. If you want I can turn you,"

"If I say yes I won't die?"

"Well, you won't stay dead"

"Okay then yes," she says. Veth turns her and they have another addition to their family. People in the village start to get suspicious of the Ermendruds. But since they do not cause trouble they leave them alone for now. Jester becomes quick friends with Veth, Bren, and Yeza. She learns from the two how to not kill humans, and how to kill the animals they feed on. Since they only need the blood the animals they hunt they bring back for their human family. They do not let any part of the animal go to waste.

BREN

Bren is nineteen years old when his parents are murdered, an outsider comes to the village a man named Trent Ikithon. He gets the villagers riled up and they go to Bren's home. The three vampires are more than willing to help defend their family. Uma says no that it's not necessary, she tells them they can't attack the village. It will only make it worse. Bren tells them to run, that they will catch up with them shortly. Veth, Yeza, and Jester reluctantly leave them behind. A decision they later regret. Bren's parents are burned along with their house. Ikithon spares Bren. He says it is because he is not a witch. Not like his mother or father had been. Ikithon is also a vampire, he's been around for a long time. It's clear in his eyes. He takes Bren as his slave. When Bren does not meet up with Veth and the others they go back to the burned remains of the house. Veth cries while Yeza holds her in his arms. Jester looks through the remains. She only finds two bodies, she comes back to her friends and looks at them.

"I think Bren is still alive," she says

"Then we will have to go and find him," Veth says

"Agreed," Yeza says.

Bren spends fourteen years as Ikithon's blood whore. He is not the Ikithon's only blood slave either, but he is Ikithon's favorite. There are a few others, the only other two he connects with are Astrid and Eodwulf. They are like him, they come from witch families but do not have magic. It's under Ikithon Bren learns what he and the other two are. A special type of witch, that does not have their own magic, they draw it from other things.

Bren is thirty-three years old when he dies. It took fourteen years for his friends to track him down but they find him. They come just in time to watch Ikithon slits Bren's throat. Veth had a choice to make go after Ikithon or save Bren. She chooses Bren. Veth runs over to him, she doesn't know if he wants to be turned or not. She knows she should ask. But she doesn't as she feeds him her blood. She hopes she is not too late to save him. They all wait, Bren wakes up. The fatal wound to his throat is healed save for the scar left behind from the blade. Jester gets ahold of some human blood for him. So he does not kill anyone by accident. He feels the magic buzz at his fingertips. Bren is unsure of what is happening. It takes him a moment to realize what it is. Like Ikithon had told him and the others who were kept as slaves here, he was a siphoner. Vampires were magic, and now that he was one he could use that magic.

The four friends free the slaves that Ikithon left behind, they all make the decision to help people. They travel around killing bad people. They also search for Ikithon. But he is nowhere to be found.

BRYCE

Bryce twenty when they first meet the odd little family. They themselves are considered odd by the village they live in. They decide to talk to the strange little girl and boy, the strange girl with violet eyes and the strange man with a scar across his throat. They learn that this group is vampires. They asked if they can become one and join them. The oldest one says its forever, and that they will never be able to come back to their home. Bryce says that it's okay. Veth the little girl is the one to change him. She is the oldest vampire out of all of them, but she doesn't look the oldest. Which confuses Bryce until they hear the stories. They ask if they can join their quest to stop bad people from hurting the innocent.

CADUCEUS

Its been 100 years since the group of vampires the Mighty Nein as they call themselves an inside joke. They meet Cad while they are resting at a nearby village. Cad is a demon, though he is pretty harmless and mostly just likes to work in his garden and make tea. He gladly agreed to join them. It's when they meet Cad that Veth and Bren change their names. Veth feels her name no longer fits her. She settles on the name Nott. It's a joke. Nott, the brave. Bren chooses the name Caleb Widogast. He feels that it fits him better and he can leave behind what happened to his parents. What happened to him. He doesn't talk about it and his family doesn't ask. They've seen the scars he has. Nott is the only one who really knows what happened. He told her, and she understands his hatred towards the vampires who take advantage of humans and turn them into "blood whores"

KIRI

Kiri is ten when they find her. Her parents were killed by a monster. The Mighty Nein rescued her. Kiri is a fae, she sticks to Jester for the first few days, then Nott, then Yeza, then Caleb, Cad and finally Bryce. She sticks with Bryce the most. Because she is fae she doesn't age much. She can't talk like them. She just mimics words and she has no voice of her own. At first, it's creepy but then again their little band of misfits is creepy already. Their group is composed of five vampires, a demon, and a fae child.

[femmequixotic]

Set Me Free Chapter 7/25 (Drarry, NC-17)

Set Me Free by femmequixotic  (Tales from the Special Branch series)

Fic summary: Seven-Four-Alpha are back in London with available resources of the Ministry tracking their every move. Draco Malfoy remains lost, last seen in Thibodaux, Louisiana, as MACUSA was closing in. Harry is raging, barely in control of his magic, and the rest of the team are battered and unsure. Their recent failure haunts them, as does the spectre of a MACUSA-Ministry alliance under the control of the Quahog administration and its shadow puppetmaster, Aldric Yaxley. The Dementor crisis with Luxembourg is brewing in the background, as is a conflict with Rodolphus Lestrange. And that’s not even mentioning the bargain Blaise struck with Death to return his cup. The team have very little energy or resources for one fight, much less several of this magnitude simultaneously.Should they fail, though, political tyranny will grip both sides of the Atlantic and evils recently banished may return. Each of them is fighting for something they hold dear, but no victory comes without a price. Still, desperate situations call for desperate measures, and desperation appears to be all they have. Rating: Very. Very. VERY NC-17. You’ve been warned. Pairings: Drarry, Blaise Zabini/Jake Durant

Hello friends, I must apologize for the tardiness of this chapter once again. It is through no fault of my lovely betas: @sassy-cissa and @noeeon had their changes to me by Monday night and then RL bit me in the ass this week and I didn’t have time to edit until today. :(  Chapter Seven is a tad shorter than usual. Honestly, I got completely thrown by the Kavanaugh crap last week and I had to engage in some self-care. Also I have a couple of other projects that I’ve been working on, which I hopefully will get to share soon with all of you. But for now, please take this chapter with all my love, and remember: I love our boys and they will be happy! Eventually. One day. *clears throat* *whispers I love you all, really I do, please remember that too*

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary for this chapter: In which Harry and Ron discuss family, Althea receives an unexpected caller, and it rains in Oudepoort.

You can read Chapter Seven (~18.5K) of Set Me Free on AO3 or start here from the beginning.

Previous stories in the Tales from the Special Branch series: Can’t Get You Out of My Head (15K) Lost In Your Arms (258K) These Secrets In Me (358K) Dare to Think (388K)

[zippdementia]

Part 63 Alignment May Vary: Twists and Turns Part 1

This is the ongoing journey log of my longest running Dungeons and Dragons campaign, started in October of 2016. The campaign will be broken into five parts, the fourth of which you are currently reading. For the first part, which focuses on adventures in the Moonsea, click here. For the second, which focuses on the search for the Tomb of Haggemoth, click here. For the third, which focuses on the confrontation with the Red Hand of Doom, click here.

The three companions wake up to find themselves in utter darkness, tied to giant statues of serpents, serpents with arms and holding aloft golden human hearts. Imoaza knows from the decorations that they are in the bowels of a Yuan Ti temple. But the creatures in front of her are not Yuan Ti.

The four Drow in the room soon notice that their prisoners have awoken. One of them, a female with a scar on her chin, shushes the others into silence, just as they are debating which one to give to Azor Khul.

“Good that you’ve awoken,” she says in elvish to Carrick. Imoaza an Aldric shuffle uncomfortably, not knowing what she is saying. “My poor spiders were all murdered by you and that makes me unhappy.”

“Your happiness isn’t my concern,” Carrick responds. In response the she-Drow grabs his head and squeezes hard. Then she slams Carrick’s head back against the statue.

“It should be,” she hisses and turns around, gesturing to two of her companions. “We’ll go tell the Mother that they are ready. One for Azor Khul (she looks at Imoaza), one to replace the spiders we lost (she looks at Aldric), and one for us (she glares at Carrick).

Then they leave, one Drow standing guard.

Unexpected Aid

Before much time can pass, a thick mist begins to creep into the room. The Drow guard begins to cough, and then yell, and then he grips his blade and starts swinging madly at nothing. Carrick’s eyes go wide as the fog reaches him and his fellow tied-up companions.

“Hold your breath!” he cries out, but in doing so takes a deep breath himself and begins to cough.

The stone walls retreated from him as if pushed back by an invisible giant. He was alone in the fog and the fog was turning red, shot through with thin lines of darker red, veins in the fog. The world was red veins pulsing with the blood of all living creatures. A boy’s cry reverberated through the fog and Carrick closed his eyes, trying not to see what he knew was coming next.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You shouldn’t have tried to stop me.” But of course the boy had been right to come after him. Without the boy sacrificing himself in his vain attempt to kill Carrick, Carrick may have stayed on his path.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” a voice in the fog said. “I was trying to save you. And I succeeded.”

Carrick opened his eyes then, but the boy was not in front of him. It was fog. Only fog. Then suddenly the Drow was there, gripping his blade by the hilt in both hands and staring wide eyed at Carrick.

“Demon,” the Drow said, and raised his blade. Then the Drow froze as a hand clamped down over his face. A blade appeared through the fog, wielded by a hand as black as a shadow. The blade dug into the Drow’s neck and slowly traced a line of red across it. Then the wound opened and inside were teeth and the teeth were snapping at Carrick’s face, the black hands grabbing him and forcing him closer...

“Breath in. Deeply.” The voice was new to Carrick, not the boy’s. It was commanding and a little husky. Carrick obeyed while the teeth snapped at him and the hands pulled him. And then, they all went away. As quick as waking from a dream, Carrick forgot his fear and could see again.

In front of him lay the prone figure of the dead Drow. Standing over him, wiping the blood clean from his dagger, was another Drow, staring at Carrick with half lidded eyes. Carrick could feel those eyes judging him almost immediately.

“A poison,” the Drow explained. “Kept in vapors until inhaled. Makes you see things. Too much, and you lose your mind forever. Keep breathing.” For the first time, Carrick realizes there is something on his face, some kind of mask. “It will counter the poison. I’ll see to your friends and get you all out of here.”

The Drow’s name is Zaeintar (zay-in-tar) and he injects Aldric and Carrick with a special Drow poison meant to help them. It will recover their life to full, but until it does they will be weak and under the effects of poison. Imoaza he can’t offer this to, as she is immune to poison. The three tentatively accept his help, not having many other options without their equipment, and he explains as he frees everyone what has happened here. It seems that a few years ago, Zaeintar’s house (Jayenthail) was betrayed from within by the sister of the House Mother. This sister, Xanega, formed an unexpected alliance with a rival house and murdered her own kin, ruining Jayenthail in a single night and letting their rivals hunt them down and kill them one by one. But a group of the Jayenthails fought their way out, aided by a loyal Mind Flayer, and escaped into forgotten tunnels in the Underdark. These tunnels eventually led them here, to the resting place of an ancient Yuan Ti temple, a temple that once belonged to Imoaza’s tribe.

Once settled into their new environments, the Drow began to explore the caverns further. The strongest of them, a House Captain named Anaduul, took the title of new House Mother, and led many of the expeditions, always praying to Lolth for guidance.

That was when they found the monument. Made entirely of a material similar in substance silver yet shining a dazzling white. No pick or axe would chip away at it. Though it seemed to have a door, it would not open. No magic could force it to do so.

Shortly after discovering it, the Mind Flayer began speaking in tongues. This was exceptionally concerning to the Drow, because if a Mind Flayer goes crazy it tends to create a storm of psychic energy which can drag down the minds of its companions into the abyss. But before they could come up with a way to dispose of the creature, the Mind Flayer disappeared.

Three days later, the monument opened and out stepped Azor Khul, a large Dragonborn with a voice like a god’s, claiming to be the son of the mother of dragons. He quickly recruited the Drow, describing a plan in which he would build an army to take over the world of the light. He Anaduul, enamored of the Dragonborn, commanded her House to follow his lead and the Drow set out on their first mission: recruitment.

Recruitment in this case meant capture. They overpowered and kidnapped three powerful loners wandering the Elsir Vale: a Hobgoblin outcast named Ulwai; a Bugbear shaman; and a Goblin ranger. The ranger they didn’t realize had an unusual friend: a black dragon named Regiarix. Regiarix hunted down his friend to the Hidden Valley, but there was lured by Azor Khul to join the army. With their first dragon ally, recruitment ramped up. Regiarix knew the lairs of other dragons and by using wit and guile, enticed them to also come meet Azor Khul. Last of these was Varanthian, who became such a fervent believer of Azor Khul that she haughtily told others she was his mother.

Using dark magic and alchemical techniques, Azor Khul set up breeding pits underground to grow his army of Hobgoblins. He would keep his core army secret underground, sending his forces out through portals into the Elsir Vale, where they would establish front line camps. Varanthian, who knew the secret ways to the abandoned Yuan Ti pyramid and the monument from her many wanderings of the Underdark, would go back and forth between these camps and Azor Khul with reports from the front.

During all his time directing and growing his forcea, Azor Khul was also always searching for special crystals and statues, relics he said that would strengthen the bond between Tiamet and this plane, allowing her to eventually manifest. Most of these hunting parties came back successful. One of the ones which did not return was one sent to the Moonsea to hunt a Jade Statue. Azor Khul obsessed over that one for a while and the Drow and other forces were told to listen for any word of travelers carrying a Jade Statue.

This last bit the players aren't told by the Drow. While he has been talking, the has been leading the companions down the twisting hallways of the Yuan temple and he suddenly stops and pounds a fist against the wall.

"My brothers and sisters have turned their worship to Tiamet," Zaeintar says, his voice thick with anger and ruefulness. "They have all forgotten Lolth. All except me. My goddess protects me from Azor Khul's powers."

"What powers?" Aldric asks.

"His voice is like a vice in your mind," Zaeintar explains. "When he speaks, you want to listen. You want to do what he says. Still, it's no excuse to forget our Mistress of Spiders. Lolth will protect the faithful! That's why I need you."

"You want us to help dark elves?" Carrick asks, disdain clear in his voice.

"I want you to kill dark elves. You okay with that?" Zaeintar shoots back. "My people have betrayed Lolth by forgetting her. Death should be their reward. And then we need to assassinate Azor Khul."

Suddenly they are interrupted by a shout from a Drow guard patrol. Zaeintar curses and shoves the three companions in an alcove. "Stay here," he says and then calls out a greeting to the guards, pretending that all is well. "The prisoners have escaped? Then we need to find them!"

But as the companions huddle together there is suddenly a loud click and a wall slams shut in front of them, trapping them in the alcove. Then the alcove's floor opens beneath them and they fall into darkness.

The Voice

The players fall a long ways. It is more of a slide then a fall, as there is a sloping smooth stone floor underneath them. This slide deposits them in an empty chamber. Imoaza is the first to disentangle herself from the three of them and look around. She sees the carvings on the wall and deciphers them. "Egg chamber," she tells the others in her slow, quiet voice. "They would put prisoners in here, tie them up, and let the new hatchlings feast on them."

"And how do you know that?" Aldric asks.

"We still do it," Imoaza says, then notices Aldric is looking around in every corner, Blackrazor in his hand. "Oh you don't have to worry. There haven't been eggs here, I think, for a long time."

The egg chamber is indeed empty. A thick layer of dust confirms Imoaza's words: these chambers haven't been disturbed in ages. The companions move on to the next chamber and here they find something interesting. All along one wall is a series of twine-like and rope-like material, connecting down to a single box with a number of dials and buttons on it. Curious, the three start messing with the box and it begins to make noise. Static and beeps at first, then a voice speaks in the Yuan Ti tongue. Imoaza slaps Aldric’s hand away from the device before he can lose the voice. She starts to translate. The Yuan Ti speaking was a priest and he is speaking about communing with a god from the heavens, calling it down to visit upon them the true age of serpents. Then the message statics and changes... this time another Yuan Ti is screaming and saying that they were wrong, that the god they called has rained down fire upon them all, that the stars are collapsing and the Yuan Ti must take their most precious creations and flee while they can. Then the message ends up repeating one word over and over, as if stuck on it: RUN.

“Turn it off,” Imoaza says, suddenly shivering as the word repeats, burrowing into her subconscious. Aldric obliges, turning random dials and pressing buttons until suddenly there is a mighty burst of static and a voice erupts from the machine. It doesn’t speak common. Instead it is a sound that moves through them like a vibration, carrying with it malice and hunger. They can understand it, even without speech. You called me, it tells them, and I answer. You shall reap your reward for summoning me.

Each of them is drawn by the booming sound into their own minds. 

Aldric sees himself as a young boy. The young boy watches as his mother is dragged outside their small home and... used... by men wearing outfits marking them as those who are supposed to protect them in this large city. When his mother fights back and cuts one of the guards with a knife, they repay her by breaking her neck. Aldric is running then, screaming and leaping at the lead guard, the man who killed his mother, a man with scars all down his face and neck. The scarred man laughs and knocks Aldric so hard he falls unconscious.

Imoaza relives the final moments of her people, torn to shreds by the Thing they summoned from the stars, the Thing that now tells her of how it shredded her people’s flesh and devoured them. She hears the screams of the Yuan Ti, the priests desperately praying to their serpentine pantheon, a pantheon they abandoned for the Thing from the stars, the Thing that came as summoned but obeyed the rule of no other. She hears the Yuan Ti newborns, smells their fear, tastes the yolk in her mouth the way the Thing did as it sucked the eggs in the egg chamber dry. Her people fled from this place, taking what magics and relics they could, and never again did they reach such heights.

Carrick sees these visions, too, though he understands it less than Imoaza. He only understands that death came here and left destruction in its wake.

“Turn it off!” Imoaza screams and Aldric rushes to oblige, smashing the thing with Blackrazor until it fizzles into static and goes forever silent. The companions all stand around for a moment, breathing heavily.

“What in the hell was that?” Aldric asks the obvious question.

“The way my people died,” Imoaza responds.

“I saw that, too,” Carrick says and the two share their vision for Aldric. Aldric, for his part, tells them only that he saw something different.

“It is for me, not for you. And it has nothing to do with this place,” he insists.

Still, that is not the greatest mystery that this underground temple holds. As the three move on into the next room, they find the signs of all the devastation they were shown. Ancient skeletons of Yuan Ti origin, craters in the walls and floor, and trails of blood so long ago dried that they are no more but stains on silver. Silver, because there is no surface in these forgotten halls that is not made of gold or silver or some other precious material.

“A sign of my people’s greatness,” Imoaza says proudly and points out the incredible murals and runic carvings and their meaning.

Yet in the next room there is an object that she does not recognize and cannot explain. Surrounded by piles of skeletons is a box shaped like a sarcophagus, though with a clear surface that allows someone to look inside. Aldric draws close, braver than the others, Blackrazor held ready. He looks through the window.

And sees Carrick’s body lying inside.

No Trick

The body is no trick: Aldric has the others confirm that they see what he does. There, inside the glass and metal sarcophagus, is the body of Carrick--or at least a duplicate of him, naked and with closed eyes. Carrick is as stunned as any of them. He has no memory of anything that could explain this. And yet, as he approaches, he spots a metal tube on the ground and he instinctively knows what it is. Picking it up he activates the tube and it turns into a whip of fire, or something like fire: a line of concentrated heat that he expertly whips around him, leaving lines of light in the air around him.

“This is mine,” he says, and it is not about claiming the object. It is a statement of fact. “I built it.” Again, words that come without bidding, without him knowing what they signify.

The players cannot stay to contemplate for long. A roar announces the arrival of some new threat and they desperately have to find a way out of this tomb. They eventually come across the body of a dead Yuan Ti priest, his still robed skeleton slumped over an incantation circle. The circle was too swiftly made: its border is not properly closed. From quickly looking at his journal, Imoaza is able to tell that he was trying to summon something to fight the Thing from the stars. But whatever he summoned fell from his control and in fact is most likely the thing they are hearing roaring through the temple now, coming to find and kill the intruders.

In fact, Carrick spots it coming through the Tomb now: a long limbed horror standing nearly 12 feet tall, dragging its too long arms across the ground behind it as it comes, moaning and roaring. And there is no escape.

Or at least, at first it appears that way. Imoaza finds the hidden door in the tomb and begins trying to open it, but it is locked by some odd mechanism that she cannot understand.

“It’s not magic,” she says in frustration.

“Let me take a look,” Aldric says, but he makes no more sense of it.

Carrick is the last one to take a look and to his surprise he knows this is a lock and he knows how to open it, although he’ll need the combination. He begins frantically explaining how it works and that triggers Imoaza’s memory of something she saw in the priest’s journal. Showing him a picture in the journal, Carrick realizes it is the code to the lock and he enters it, revealing a small passage that they can fit through but the creature cannot. They dive through, followed by the beast’s long arm, which reaches and grabs for them through the hole but cannot reach them. It lets out a mournful howl and then crouches to stare at them through the hole, trying to push its way inside. After a moment it gives up but the players are not convinced it doesn’t know another way in. They look around them for a means of escape and are surprised when there is a whirring and clanking sound inside the room. A machine is humming to life, full of gears and pieces of equipment that looks alchemical in nature. They have no time to question it before a massive electrical spark lights up the room and a magical portal comes to life before them.

“Anywhere is better than here,” Aldric reasons and jumps through. The other two are quick to agree and step through after him, leaving the horror of this hidden area of the temple behind, though its mysteries will follow them.

As it happens, they don’t end up leaving the Yuan Ti temple, they only are teleported to its upper tiers. The temple is shaped like a pyramid and while the three are still underground, now they are outside of the pyramid, looking down from an upper balcony onto an incredible scene.

Which we will get to next time!