#allura vysoren either

[mayapapaya33]

There is not nearly enough Gilmore in tlovm, nor Gilmore interacting with Vax and what little we did get felt off because the show was too busy trying to set up Keyleth and Vax. I get that they have very limited time but the way Vax was so passive around Gilmore's flirting in the tv show is just not accurate. Vax is an ACTIVE FLIRT. Initially because it got them better prices at the shop, and eventually because he genuinely enjoyed Gilmore's company and advice and developed feelings for him. It's just that those feelings were not as strong as his feelings for Keyleth. He felt bad about leading Gilmore on and had to talk to him about his feelings for Keyleth. Liam has stated that Vax's biggest regret is hurting Gilmore's feelings.

The show does NOT manage to convey that at all. I know they have a very limited time to pack hundreds of hours of intricate story into, so I am cutting them a lot of slack, but that's one of the few things that really did bother me in an otherwise fantastic show that I feel they should have done differently. (Most of my other complaints are minor nit picks or things where I'm grumpy but I recognize that they probably had no choice due to the medium change lol). I hope they do a better job of it in the future seasons. They'll have to in order to set up the rakshasa and the scene in the tower at the end of the campaign. We met the man's parents for fucks sake! (I hope they don't skip that, it's on the route to important plot, and Gilmore is a favorite character so hopefully it gets put in).

The deep conversations between Vax and Gilmore are some of my favorite moments in the campaign. I hope they don't get rid of them all, that would suck tremendously.

(They can't skip the rakshasa, it's why they go to Hell. Unless they come up with some bs reason to go to Hell, which would be stupid, because the Rakshasa scene is ICONIC. And they can't skip Hell, because first of all, it's fucking rad! Why would you skip it? But secondly, the contract with Ipkesh is important plotwise).

[utilitycaster]

Fighter Breakdown Tracker, episode 3x78

Welcome to what was originally an opportunity to talk about the myriad wizards (not Myriad wizards, a separate concept) of Campaign 2 that occasionally gets co-opted into other things when the thought arises. Anyway, obviously the main event was the Barbarian Breakdown and, relatedly, the Party Breakdown, due to their Communication Breakdown, giving Allura Vysoren specifically her 19th Nervous Breakdown, but I've already talked a lot about Ashton. How are the fighters doing?

As a reminder: characters are included on the basis of 1. are they a fighter, 2. are they remotely relevant to this campaign, and 3. do I have something funny to say about them. I cannot stress enough how important item 3 is in the decision process; do not make requests, my muse speaks to me and that is how the characters (and, to be honest, classes) are chosen.

Cassandra de Rolo: Yes! According to the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting (not reborn) she's multiclassed into fighter! Anyway that plan to go to the ziggurat went well, huh? totally normal and great. I like to think that due to her rogue levels she saw Fearne march down the ziggurat steps and just peaced out and has been chilling in Pike's little cabin ever since. 4/10: normal "is the world ending" concerns but otherwise she's having maybe the best day anyone on the Whitestone War Council can.

Jarett Howarth: he's specifically avoiding Bells Hells because motherfuckers keep teleporting from Marquet and not bringing any fusaka. This, plus normal "putting the Pale Guard on a war footing and also there's a really mad goat lady in the garden" bumps him up to a 6/10.

Orym: my serious thoughts about the space made for Chetney, FCG, and Imogen to step up aside I honestly think the semi-joking narrative of Orym going off in a huff and working out his feelings quite literally via the power of elaborate bodyweight calisthenics of the sort that grant you 20 Dex and 10 Str would be good for him. Allow yourself a little pettiness, Orym; it's good for the soul. 5/10 because I don't fucking know; we'll see next game.

Ariks Eshteross: I hope he's at peace and buried next to his love as requested; I still haven't gotten around to making those cookies actually and frankly I've had much more of an eye on the gunpowder tea shortbread. 0/10; I like to think he has found true rest.

Bertrand Bell: These motherfuckers have not visited the grave of their namesake at ALL. Traipsing around the Raven Queen's temple - literally everyone but Laudna and FCG has wandered over to that corner of the city - and NO ONE has taken a moment to pause and reflect. He died as he lived: everyone kind of setting him aside for more important matters except for followers of the Raven Queen. 8/10 because hopefully he was entertained by the raven show that got put on but also, come on man you couldn't stop by at all?

FRIDA: I have to imagine things in Vasselheim are wild and it's going to be missing FCG hours, but at least they're in great company! 5/10; they're a pretty even-keeled robot all things considered but the situation is pretty tense.

Otohan Thull: My sole regret about how great this episode is and the fact that we're dropping into the Fey Realm for a bit to have some much-needed time to regroup is that we are likely delaying their richly deserved demise. Anyway everyone's beloathed Palpatine knockoff is unfortunately super unflappable; another reason why they are boring as shit and why I very much want Bells Hells to make the bridge a little bit bloodier on the way up. 3/10.

Percival Friedrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III: Here's the thing. All things considered, his personal position is stressful, but not terrible. The ziggurat did not blow up; Gwen appears to either have not told him about her Delilah incident or did so in such a way that he didn't realize what was going on; he doesn't seem to have noticed the break-in into his parents' bedroom yet; Allura was reassuring re: Whitestone likely being safe (although...it's on a ley nexus so watch out!); and he got to deliver the line "ever since I met you, I knew you were destined for stupidity" which is actually how he specifically blows off steam. On the other hand, every single window in the castle has been destroyed, Allura had to leave, and I just checked and confirmed that Pike does not have the mending cantrip. Maybe one of the local clerics does? Maybe one of his kids does? Maybe Vilya or Ebenold does? Maybe Grog's in town and can be convinced that the role of the Grand Poobah etc etc is fixing windows? 6/10.

[vaxyl]

Don't mind me, just being one huge queer nerd... Excuse me...

Interesting, interesting...

No surprise seeing Vax is at the top of my most crushed on animated character list... 😅

(more info under the cut!)

--- CUT ---

So a while ago I realised that some of the things that a lot of my animated crushes (past and current) have in common so I wanted to compare them all to find my 'ideal' animated crush...

The result isn't exactly a shock to anybody who knows me. 😭

The Crushes, in order of earliest to most recent -

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb)

Sebastian Michaelis (Black Butler)

Okabe Rinatro (Steins;Gate)

Kyoya Ootori (Ouran Highschool Host Club)

Lie Ren (RWBY)

Vax'ildan (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Allura Vysoren (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Shaun Gilmore (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Jarett Howarth (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Sylas Briarwood (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Delilah Briarwood (The Legend of Vox Machina)

Alucard / Adrian Tepes (Castlevania)

Xie Lian (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Hua Cheng (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Fu Yao (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Nan Feng (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Olrox (Castlevania; Nocturne)

Dikui (God Troubles Me)

Shi Qingxuan (Heaven Official's Blessing)

[ Shi Qingxuan appears twice because they often switch between a male body and a female body at will! and while I have a crush on them in both forms, its for different things ]

The Rankings, from lowest ranked to highest -

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz (4 points)

Delilah Briarwood (5 points)

Shi Qingxuan ♀️ (6 points)

Kyoya Ootori (6 points)

Dikui (7 points)

Jarett Howarth (7 points)

Shaun Gilmore (7 points)

Shi Qingxuan ♂️ (8 points)

Allura Vysoren (8 points)

Olrox (9 points)

Lie Ren (9 points)

Sebastian Michaelis (9 points)

Nan Feng (10 points)

Fu Yao (10 points)

Okabe Rinatro (10 points)

Hua Cheng (12 points)

Adrian Tepes (12 points)

Sylas Briarwood (12 points)

Xie Lian (13 points)

Vax'ildan (18 points)

To get these results, I took into account certain things like their physical appearance, things I associate the characters with, their personal stories and the different relationships they have with other characters.

In conclusion, I guess I really like tall guys with long and/or black hair who have trauma and are a little bit fruity... 😅

Also vampires and people who became divine later in life that are cursed to suffer, apparently.

Was genuinely surprised with some of the rankings though, like my boy Shaun or my girls Delilah and Allura for example.

I expected them to rank higher but in retrospect I understand why they didn't in the end. 🤷‍♂️

Either way, this also lines up with my irl relationships pretty well - sadly tho none of those were with vampires, gods or divine champions of gods 😭

[beetlemancy]

Random thought before the campaign finale: sometimes I wonder how many adventuring group there are out there that Allura lends her hand to. I'd like to think that VM and M9 are not the only groups that she's known and aided, that there is a list of pig-headed adventurers calling to her for loots and supports over the years, that she and Kima are the only people that know of countless acts of selfless courage this side of Exandria. A keeper of heroes, if you will.

THIS IS THE COOLEST IDEA.

Oh my god, are there any Taldorei or Wildemount campaigns that have met Allura? That would be such a fun idea!

[mnemememory]

nothing to fear, but

Allura is so good at being afraid.

One day, Allura thinks, I’m going to wake up, and the whole world will be burning.

Allura wakes up, and her world burns.

Sometimes, it’s so easy to fall in love.

Allura has done it. So many times, in so many ways, Allura has fallen in love – with the way someone smiles, or the kind backlight of their eyes. It’s an active search, staring at people and picking them apart, bone by bone. She’s gotten good at it. There is so much to love about the world.

Kima doesn’t. Kima is hard edges and brittle, roughened skin. Her teeth are cut on glass. Sometimes, Allura reaches out and she can’t quite reach Kima without cutting her fingers.

“They’re going to die,” Kima says, because Vox Machina is many things, and one of them is doomed. Allura wants to reach out and brush the hair from Kima’s eyes, but she restrains herself.

“They might not.”

“They will,” Kima says. She looks tired. There are scars on her body that weren’t there fifteen years ago, a hardness to her jaw that won’t ever go away. Allura wonders what happened down there, in the Underdark, but she can’t quite gather up the courage to ask. And here, now, is the last place she wants to bring up the swelled bruising of Kima’s past. They need to be strong.

Allura shakes her head, and reminds herself to breathe. “They are different than us,” she says. She doesn’t say, they are better, but a part of her thinks it is so. “We failed. They might yet succeed.”

Here’s the thing: Allura has fallen a little bit in love with Vox Machina. She cherishes their trust, though she cannot return it. Not for this.

Kima’s smile is everything Allura has never wanted to see. Not on her. Not on Kima. Please, no. “I’m not afraid of dying,” she says. “But I think that they are.”

I’m afraid of dying, Allura thinks.

“I love you,” Kima murmurs into the skin of Allura’s collarbone, into the braids of her hair, into the tight line of her lips. Allura hitches her breath and hugs her tighter, so much tighter, because they are both fundamentally different people and they are going to die.

Allura wonders, sometimes, how things turned out as they have. When had she gotten so used to cutting her losses? She remembers, now, thinking that Kima was an inevitable loss. One more sacrifice on the road of life. Allura has a lot of bodies lain out in her wake, and Kima will be one more.

It’s easy to see why. Kima is a bad investment. Her smile is fire and she’s so, so small. Let’s go dragon hunting, she says, like it’s easy, like it’s just another adventure. I’m not afraid of dying.

“Don’t go,” Allura absolutely does not say. She would sooner cut out her own heart. “Please, don’t go. Stay with me.”

Once upon a time, Allura thinks, in the cold night before the dawn, when the rest of the world is silently still. Kima is curled up next to her, shivering. Once upon a time, the world was brave and happy, and there was peace –

(There was fire.

For however long Allura lives, there will always be fire licking away at the marrow of her bones. It scorches her blood thick and leaves her breathless, voiceless, useless. Allura is so afraid of being useless.

Kima is shouting, but Kima is always shouting. Allura struggles to open her eyes. There’s a high-pitched noise that beats to the tune of her heartbeat: da-dum, da-dum, da-dum –)

Allura strokes a soft, shaky finger down the side of Kima’s face. She traces invisible, long-healed scars, pulls gently at her hair. Allura is a good liar. Better than Vox Machina gives her credit for, at the very least. Gilmore sees it, but Gilmore is as good as dead, along with the rest of them. Walking corpses, talking corpses. Allura hasn’t had anything but ash in her lungs for weeks, now.

“I love you,” Allura wants to say, so badly, so very badly. It sticks to the back of her throat, pulling tight over her skin like a noose. The words won’t come, not even here, with only the still air to hear them.

Kima curls up a little tighter against Allura’s side, a little smaller. When she’s awake, it’s so easy to forget how small she is. It terrifies Allura, the way Kima can grow and shrink to fit her own awareness. One day, someone else is going to find out about this, she thinks, And I’m not going to be there to protect you.

Which is ridiculous. Kima has no need of Allura’s protection.

Here are some conversations Allura has never had:

“I don’t think we can win this.”

“I don’t know if I’m enough.”

“I can’t do this.”

“I miss you. God, I miss you all. So much.”

“I need you to stay with me.”

“I need you to come back alive.”

“I miss you, I miss you, I miss you.”

Vox Machina has, in fact, become larger than life.

Allura remembers them before – all of this. Before the dragons, before the Underdark. They remind her of Kima, all of them, growing to fit into their armour. Allura can only step back and watch, because what else can she do? They are a different kind of strong, to Allura’s kind. Less comfortable.

Inexplicably, she misses them in their grim smiles and tired eyes. There is nothing but terror around the city, these days; the stones stink of it. Vox Machina stinks of it, rank and rotting. Allura wants to badly to reach out and reassure them, but she can’t, because at night she closes her eyes and dreams. In them, she burns, and the rest of the world burns with her.

Kima goes.

Of course she goes.

The night before, she sits Allura down in their shared bedchamber.

“Don’t say it,” Allura says, shaking. Allura has spent so much of her life shaking.

Kima stares up at her, fingers threading into Allura’s. She doesn’t say a word.

“I know you have to go,” Allura says. “Don’t worry, I’m well aware.”

“If I don’t come back,” Kima says, and Allura cuts her off with a kiss.

(“We have to have this conversation,” Kima says, later that night.

“No we don’t,” Allura says. “Because you’re coming back.”

“Allie,” Kima says.

“You’re coming back,” Allura says, as firm as she is able. “You have to come back. I won’t forgive you if you don’t.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Kima says. “I’m not afraid of –”

“You’re coming back,” Allura says, pulling Kima into her arms.

Kima pulls back a little and stares at her, hair silhouetted in silver starlight. It is late. It is dark.

“Alright,” Kima says, from an eternity away. “Alright, Allie. I’m coming back. And you’d better take care of this place while I’m gone, okay? And yourself.”

Allura doesn’t say anything, just clutches her tighter, and tries to believe that they will all make it out of this alive).

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

Keep going on the Vaxleth captured fic!! Maybe give our Kiki some hurting with side loving… luv u!!!

Here's a link to part 1 and part 2! tw- aftermath of torture

They come back. Of course they do. Vax's head is resting on her lap when they hear steps in the hall. They clamber to their feet immediately. "Stay behind me," Vax tells her. Keyleth is about to protest, seeing that Vax is still bleeding and heavily favoring on leg. But before she can, the door bangs open and in walks their mask captors.

All Keyleth can discern from them is that they're two men. One is human or half-elf and the other is most likely a tiefling. "Grab her," the tiefling says, nodding to Keyleth.

"Don't touch her," Vax growls, stepping back protectively. "Take me."

The tiefling laughs, their voice deep and low, "We've already tried. It'll be far easier to break her." The other man shoves Vax roughly out of the way and with his injured leg, he crumples to the ground with a shout.

The man grabs Keyleth's arm roughly, hand so tight she's sure it will leave a bruise. Vax shouts for her, tries to stand, but quickly finds himself being kicked in the ribs as Keyleth is dragged out of the cell.

The man drags her through the dark stone hallways, all of them identical until the tiefling opens the door to a room with only a sturdy chair in the middle. Blood covers the floor with a shock of revulsion, she realizes that it's probably Vax's. The human shoves her into the chair, removing his belt to tie her at the shoulders to the chair.

"I don't know anything," Keyleth says. "Please, I don't know what you want from me."

The tiefling smiles wickedly, touching a finger to her chin, "Tell me what you know of Arcanist Allura Vysoren."

"She's my friend. I don't know what you want to know."

The tiefling grabs Keyleth's hair and yanks her head back, leaning over her intimidatingly. "What do you know of the Council of Tal'Dorei?"

Keyleth keeps her mouth shut. Any information on them would be useful information. The human chuckles, "Much like your boyfriend, girly. I wonder if you yell the same too." And he unsheathes his knife.

Keyleth doesn't know how long they have her. She's slapped and kicked and cut and beaten over and over, but she doesn't say a word, even as tears run down her cheeks and every instinct inside her screams to make it stop. Vax didn't tell them anything so she doesn't either.

Keyleth blacks out eventually and wakes up to the sound of Vax's voice. "Please wake up, Keyleth. Please." She groans and blinks her eyes open to see him leaning over her, tears on his cheeks.

"Vax," she murmurs. "Everything hurts." Pain covers every inch of her body. Is this what they did to Vax?

"No," he says. She hadn't realized that had been out loud. "They hurt you far worse. You've been out for a while. I-I bandaged you up as best I could."

It's then that she realizes that he's no longer wearing a shirt and she can see the bruises and cuts covering his torso. "I didn't tell them anything, I swear," Keyleth says, faintly. His face morphs into unbearable sadness.

"I don't care about that," he brushes her hair from her eyes. "Tell me how I can make this better, Keyleth."

"Make it stop," Keyleth says. It's a childish plea, but it's truly all she wants. "Please, Vax." Her eyelids feel heavy.

"No, no, Kiki, you can't go to sleep," he says. His voice is urgent, huh, what he's saying is probably important. But the darkness is so inviting, it doesn't hurt so much there. So she lets herself sink.

[your-turn-to-role]

What level do you think caleb was when he killed his parents?

i believe liam was actually asked this on talks once! if i remember right he didn't give a specific level, but low-ish, in like the 2-5 range

which makes sense, a wizard chooses their school at level 2, and we know bren was evocation

also they did get a decent amount of training and they were definitely a loooot better than your average 17 year old, but it helps to remember that most average people are like, level zero. at level 1 you can hold your own in a fight. at level 5 you're saving towns. allura vysoren, renowned and widely respected 40-odd year old professional arcanist, was level 13 in campaign one, and she was an adventurer when she was younger. keyleth gets made fun of a lot for saying that, at level 17, they were basically gods, but she's not wrong

adventurers level up fast both because the game requires it and because they're fighting and learning and honing their skills constantly in difficult battles

campaign two has a lot of impressive wizards, basically everyone we've met has been the best of the best, so there are some extremely high level wizards in there. i'd guess most of the cerberus are levels 18-20 (an archmage npc is level 18), as delilah briarwood was. essek's level 15 or 16 and he's been doing pretty much nothing but learn magic for a hundred years

so that in mind, being around level 3 or 4 or 5, for teenage assassins in training? definitely tracks. they all would have specialised in a school, and maybe had some other training in there too (matt doesn't build npcs like pcs, but we know the scourger could sneak attack, so there's some rogue mechanics involved)

bren would have had spell sculpting, the level 2 evocation feature where he can cast an area of effect spell (like with a lot of fire spells), and only hurt the people he chose too, his friends could stand in a fireball and not be touched, though fireball would probably have been the most impressive thing he could do, if he could cast it at all. fire bolt, scorching ray, burning hands, these would have been his staples i imagine

it's also, never really been stated if caleb still has the residuum in his arms or not? it could go either way, maybe it was removed at some point by caleb or by people at the sanatorium, maybe trent wanted it still there and digging into his own arms to get rid of it was a bit much even for caleb

but i'm very curious what that actually did, residuum as a material is basically a conductor of magic, to paraphrase matt from the first time it came up in campaign one, it's not magic in itself, but it can be added to an item to make it easier to enchant. we also know that it can be used as a replacement for any spell component

so given that, and the placement of the tattoos, i have to assume on actual volstrucker it's a way of conducting their magic to be more efficient, more focused, and more powerful. they're supplying the raw magic itself, but the residuum takes away a lot of the effort involved, making them much deadlier

for caleb, he doesn't have the tattoos, but he still at one point had that conductor. if he still does, can he learn to use it the same way? is it already boosting his magical abilities and that's part of the reason he's levelled so fast? does it amplify it but fail to direct it, leaving that control up to caleb, for even more symbolism?

i don't know, but i'm curious to find out

[aftonfamilyvalues]

Please rate my blorbinas, Allura Vysoren and her wife Lady Kima of Vord from critical role 🙏

looks semi royal. reminds of that game of thrones woman from before. any dragons? 5/10

i was going to say "lesbian" but then i read the "her wife" part. lol. strong lesbian! probably within either the good or lawful alignment. 8/10

[greatgodempresspan]

Ikithon claims that other members of the Assembly are interested in Caleb potentially joining their ranks. From what I can remember, the only two that Caleb has met face-to-face (while not in cat form) are Ludinus Da’Leth and Vess DeRogna.

In ep 88 Ludinus was pretty lukewarm about explicitly denouncing Trent and what he was doing. He personally finds Trent unpleasant, but he has his uses. he can be done with if necessary, but he doesn’t deem it necessary. Then, in ep 97 (also around the time that we find out about Essek, and that Ludinus is aware of how emotionally compromised he is with regards the M9) Ludinus responds to Caleb remarking that Ikithon is probably disappointed in him with “he is a great disappointment to many.”

He also seemed surprised and a bit disquieted to learn that Vess had offered the M9 work.

So. Vess and Ludinus are in the midst of a power struggle. Over the Beacons, over the Assembly itself, who knows? Ikithon, as a human in his 70s, is clearly not long for this world. The wizard that he had originally intended to succeed him (I’m not getting into whether or not he intended Caleb to be a vessel he could hop into or whatever Ikithon’s long game is just now) reappears very suddenly in the Dynasty, and has managed to gain some political pull over there. Enough that he and his companions are able to facilitate talks between the Bright Queen and King Dwendal. to say nothing of the fact that they apparently have the good graces of Allura Vysoren, member of the Council of Tal’Dorei.

I’m not sure if his acquaintanceship with Yussa would count for or against him with either of them. I’m gonna have to watch his scenes again.

Liam’s mentioned that Caleb was trained to be “charming” and Caleb does have high charisma. Who’s to say (from Vess and Ludinus’ point of view) that he hasn’t been using his training to win these allies to his side? Or that he has any genuine emotional ties to these people at all and hasn’t just been using them for his own survival?

(Also, pausing to point out that without being hyper-focused on Bren, I think Vess and Ludinus have also taken stock of Caleb’s allies and *their* usefulness. Just think what they could do with an Expositor of the Soul…)

Whether Vess is going to use the upcoming job to feel Caleb out, or begin “courting” him to scoop Ludinus, I’m not sure, but one or both of them are definitely going to offer up Trent in exchange for Caleb’s allegiance. And even if he doesn’t trust it, I think he’s going to have a very hard time rejecting the opportunity to be “welcomed” into the Assembly and bring that place crashing down from the inside.

And if nothing comes of this? Well, I have a back up idea for Nano.

[apropensityforcharm]

The Betrayer Gods Arc: Synopsis

I realised last episode that I had no idea what was happening in the current main plot of Critical Role when they started talking about Caedogeists and I’d never heard that word in my life. I am bad at processing verbal information (it goes in one ear and out the other) and I’d been travelling for much of the past episodes, so I was completely lost on this current Betrayer Gods arc. 

Naturally, I decided to spend the whole weekend trawling through summaries, episode transcripts, and youtube timestamps to piece together the current Betrayer Gods plot which has spread over the past 30 episodes. I hope to God someone other than me finds this useful. I tried so hard to keep it under 1000 words. So hard. 

Pt. I: the Abyssal Anchors (ep. 52 - 62)

The Mighty Nein begin discovering rifts underneath cities in Xhorhas which connect to the Abyssal plane, triggered by Abyssal anchors which shred the barrier between planes. These rifts allow increasing amounts of fiends and demons to pass through to the Material Plane, who then create local disrest and violence. (Caleb immediately connects the demons and stories of local madness to Tharizdun, but it goes largely ignored and then forgotten.)

Beau discovers a scrap of fabric trapped in a second Abyssal anchor, which belongs to a person dubbed “Blondie” that they observe through scrying. During the scry Blondie finalises plans for a meeting, mentions an ‘Angel’s Eye’, and reads a book about the Betrayer God Torog (the Crawling King), the patron god of tunnels and and torturers. Later, they learn Blondie serves the Empire in an official capacity, and has direct contact with King Dwendal, the Empire’s monarch.

Yasha begins having dreams in which she is shackled, and in which a red devil appears, watching her. 

Pt. II - the Orphanmaker (ep. 63 - 70)

The Mighty Nein intercept assassation plans from the Empire in the Dynasty and attempt to head it off; there they meet a drow who recognises Yasha, calling her “Orphanmaker”. The drow escapes, but goads the Mighty Nein into bringing Yasha north, to Bazzoxan. They track the drow through the Barbed Fields, learning that his name is Obann and he worships the Angel of Irons, which none of them have heard of.

Upon reaching Bazzoxan, the Mighty Nein head to the temple known as the Umbra Gates, which had been used as a place of worship to Torog in ages past. Outside the tomb is an inscription: Let lie the king’s instrument, deathless and detained, until the world ends. Further within the tomb is a second inscription: Build every bridge. Become every nightmare. Feast on every heart.

While travelling further into the temple, the party discover that the first inscription refers to the Laughing Hand, the ancient and unkillable champion of Torog, who is contained within this temple. 

The Mighty Nein reach the Laughing Hand’s tomb and are interrupted by Obann, who followed them in. He reveals himself to be the red devil from Yasha’s dreams and calls out to her, calling her his colleague under the Angel of Irons. Though the Mighty Nein fight fiercely to stop him, he succeeds in releasing the Laughing Hand from his tomb and bringing him under his control. The Mighty Nein kill Obann, but in his dying breath he Charms Yasha, turning her against the Mighty Nein at his will. The party are forced to flee the tomb, and leave both Yasha and the Laughing Hand behind. Yasha resurrects Obann the next day.

Pt. III - The Return of the Betrayer Gods’ Champions (ep. 71 - 84)

Dairon shares that Abyssal anchors were found in Zadash, suggesting that the Abyssal incursions come from a third party rather than either the Empire or Dynasty. Dairon also recognises Blondie, identifying him as Vence Nuthaleus, annex to Ludinus Da’leth (head of the Cerberus Assembly). Meanwhile, Jester scries as Yasha, Obann, and the Laughing Hand attack the Zadash branch of the Cobalt Soul, taking a book with them.

The Mighty Nein delve into an intense research project about the Calamity, the Betrayer Gods, and cults. They learn a lot of general information about the Calamity and Betrayer Gods, some highlights being:  the Laughing Hand was once a man known as Ganix who aimed to defeat Torog, but failed and was twisted into servitude forevermore, while his heart was tossed into an extraplanar space and never seen again. Obann was a servant of demon prince Graz’zt, but was “destroyed” after failing his prince on one occasion. The book taken by Obann contained information about a being named Jourrael. They find very little about the Angel of Irons. 

Though it takes time, they learn that Jourrael was also known as the Caedogeist or the Inevitable End. Jourrael was the Chosen Assassin of Lolth, the god of deceit, shadows, and spiders, who had a famous fear of Tharizdun. Jourrael was unkillable, similar to the Laughing hand, and was therefore bisected, their heart sent to the Lotusden in Xhorhas and their head sent to elves in Veluthil. 

Through continued scrying on Yasha, the Mighty Nein watch as her trio travels from Zadash to Kamordah, then to Xhorhasian swamps, then to dense forests. They determine that Obann aims to rejoin Jourrael into one piece, and embark on a chase to stop him. Though they reach the Lotusden in time to intercept him, they are once more unable to prevent him from retrieving Jourrael’s heart. He escapes, and they presume he raises Jourrael to being once more.

The Mighty Nein travel to speak with Yussah Erenis, a neutral party, but must enter the Archmage’s Bane to find him. While there, they come across a room labelled the Permaheart, which Beau realises may contain the heart of the Laughing Hand. The destroy the heart, and confirm through scrying that the Laughing Hand is noticeably weakened. 

Meanwhile, their new ally Allura Vysoren researches the Angel of Irons, and upon their exit from the Archmage’s Bane, she draws them into a ritual designed to reveal the Angel’s identity. Through this spell, they discover the Angel’s ruse: there is no Angel of Irons, only a puppet figure spreading the deeds and desires of Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion, a being older even than the Betrayer Gods, and a vessel of hunger, madness, and violence.

And then Jourrael (presumably) appears and stabs Caduceus while they’re speaking to Pumat Sol. To be continued!

[finelyfrenzied]

listen im not saying im thinking about allura vysoren in the context of the wait for it reprise when burr sings “death doesn’t discriminate. between the sinners and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes”  and the guilt she must feel when thordak returns. because she and kima lost almost their entire adventuring party – lost their whole family because her plan didn’t work. because it didn’t keep him away.  she holds herself responsible for the deaths of not only her found but every single person thordak and the chroma conclave killed when he came back. 

but im not NOT saying that either.

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker: Mighty Nein Reunited, Part 2

Gather ye wizards while ye may, though with the return to Campaign 3, we are finally headed to Yios, where there are wizards, once we finish with the Gloomed Jungles, where there are were-creatures, which are also very cool. The hierarchy is, as always: paladins; wizards; were-creatures; literally everyone else; dhampyrs, kalashtar, changelings, and "hey DM, can I play a tiefling bard with intelligence 7". But I digress.

Ludinus Da'leth: So at this point (ie, shortly post-this episode), Caleb, known bridge between the Cerberus Assembly and the Cobalt Soul, has taken a job at the Soltryce Academy, which means any efforts to make a new, slightly more palatable volstrucker program and quietly keep it from Archmage Becke are going to go straight out the window. The walls are closing in, and he doesn't even know that Jester can go to the Feywild. 7/10.

Astrid Becke: Caleb listened and took the job! That's one success in what's got to be a thankless new position in many ways. Also I still really want to know who the hell has become Archmage of Antiquity, or if the Assembly just writes that one off as "make a deal to bring back a powerful Age of Arcanum entity and raise it to godhood once, shame on you; make a deal to bring back an powerful Age of Arcanum entity and raise it to godhood twice, shame on us and also what the fuck are we going to do with two nickels in a society that uses gold, silver, and copper currency." 3/10; Astrid's doing better than she ever has in this tracker, and good for her.

Eadwulf Grieve: Caleb is still keeping him in mind, which is good, because he really is like...look, he's a wizard, so he's not dumb muscle, but compared to his two former lovers he's very clearly the 'And Peggy' of the bunch. On the other hand this means he's probably just organizing the Temple of the Raven Queen Yulisen Night Potlucks and inventing the Exandrian equivalent of Minnesota Hot Dish or something. 0/10.

Yussa Errenis: Is aware of the storm on the horizon. Is chilling in his tower. Is largely unbothered. Other people pointed out that while he has developed a reputation for fucking around and finding out, he has also technically never physically left his tower to do so, which is honestly impressive, but does explain why Beau did not have to bamf out a partially dissolved old wizard when she ended up in Uk'otoa's gullet. Anyway, glad he's keeping up with Caleb and making potions. 3/10, for being aware of the storm.

Allura Vysoren, whose name I keep misspelling: Yasha did give Kima back the sword, and Caleb doesn't seem to have her staff, and she helped make a new, cooler sword! 2/10 for League of Miracles reasons only.

Essek Thelyss: Still under a lot of political pressure, regardless of where he is...but he's also getting, as Figueroth Faeth would say, his kisses in, so better than I expected! 5/10.

Caleb Widogast: So here's the thing. It is, as the other post said, about the green beans. And it is, as my last iteration of this said, not time for deep Caleb meta in here. But I do have a lot of thoughts about the similarities between Caleb and Fjord, as I always do, and about how neither of them really had much of an understand of what happens in their life past That One Big Thing They Need To Do, having already woken up at some point and been like *Mitski voice* I used to think I'd be done by 20. I do feel that the Caleb Widogast of part 1 of this two-shot was truly a Caleb Widogast who could go either way re: the T-Dock usage, and the Caleb Widogast of part 2 of this two-shot is not; the event has not (in my understanding, at least) occurred but the decision has unconsciously been made. Also he's dating Essek and he gets to have Dragon Time, which sounds like Floor Time but better. He does get a 4/10 though, because he takes it upon himself to become the Mighty Nein's Social Event Coordinator. As someone who just had to cancel a carefully scheduled D&D session for tonight because I am sick but also the DM and if I have to talk for 2 hours while simultaneously using my brain I will cry, this is very stressful.

Veth Brenatto: Camp's going great! Only one kid died, and not permanently! 1/10.

Known Gem Wizard Hotsauce Lutefisk: Oh so the demigod leviathan CALAMITY SNAKE gets released from its prison beneath the sea, three seals in three temples broken in under 18 months, and yet, I, Halas Lutagran,

Bonus!

Warlock Breakdown Tracker

Fjord: For real? Who knows. I personally imagine that it does, as they say, briefly go to 11, because though Uk'otoa is dealt with and Zehir seems to have understandably gone "you are way too interested in love and the ocean for me to give a shit, I'm going back to bed", Fjord (not unlike Caleb) has to sit with the fact that he's done with that and he's happy OH GOD HE'S HAPPY WHAT THE FUCK DOES HE DO WITH THIS. Also he has to deal with the orphanage, which is going to be traumatic and unpleasant for sure, plus you know someone named "Grankton" is going to be holding a massive grudge against the world at large. But with time, it settles back down somewhere more reasonable, only to briefly spike and resolve again during Kingsley's little maneuver. So you know. Some numbers, probably.

[ihaveseentruebravery]

Ep. 57:

Caleb to a hesitant Mighty Nein, after failing to break through to the Bright Queen in her throne room: I would like to propose something... I think we should stop a war.

Ep. 87:

Caleb with the Mighty Nein, speaking to Allura Vysoren, after she helped get King Dwendal to a possible peace talk point with the Dynasty: Things are moving faster than either of these nations can track. If you... can do anything to stay a step ahead of it, please, do so. It is too much for us alone.

Me: uncontrollable sobbing

Also me: LOOK AT THEIR GROOOOWTH!! LOOK AT HOW FAR ALL THEIR EFFORT HAS GOTTEN THEM. THEY GOT TO THE KING. THEY HAVE ALLIES THAT BACKED THEM UP. CAAAAYLEB ASKED FOR HEEEEELP. I AM IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION. CALEB DIDN'T RUN!! 😭

[breaktheworldforyou]

Notes of Import

Before Kima could protest, Allura had snatched the rest of her notes from her hands and hurried back to her desk, tossing papers and a few spare quills into her bag.

“Wait, no! Allie!”

“We have to hurry, Kima, this is important!”

“But Allie-“

“No time! Come on!”

Before Kima could get another word out, Allura had grabbed her hand, and the world flashed blue around them. When the bright light subsided, Kima found herself standing in front of the council chambers.

“Gods damn it!”  

Kima startled awake. Frustration made it high pitched and strengthened the light accent, but the voice was unmistakably Allura’s.

The curse was worrying, though.

Kima rose and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The slanted morning light streamed through one of the tall windows, framing the figure of Allura, hunched over her desk. There papers strewn across the surface and a quill in her hand.

“Everything okay?” Kima asked with a yawn. She snatched one of Allura’s soft shirts from the dresser next to the bed and pulled it over her head before padding over to join Allura.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Allura assured her. She ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. “It’s just… so much happened in that meeting yesterday, and I’m supposed to report to the council later and I know the Marquesian general said something relevant to the trade routes but I was so distracted by Asum’s report that I-“

“Hey, calm down,” Kima said. She shifted some of the clutter on Allura’s desk aside and jumped up so she was seated on the edge, looking into Allura’s face. There was a crease in her brow, and bags under her eyes, and Kima wanted nothing more than to smooth them away and let the woman rest. But Kima knew Allura would refuse any such plan until the report was finished. “No one expects you to remember every single detail, Allie. It’s okay to ask for help sometimes. Besides, I was there too, you know.”

Allura’s expression turned dubious, one eyebrow arched. “And you were paying enough attention to remember what the general said?”

Kima crossed her arms and huffed, swinging her legs impetuously. “Hey! I can pay attention. Besides, you asked me to take notes.”

“To give you something to do, not because I actually thought you-“

But Kima had already jumped to her feet and was halfway across the room before Allura could finish her sentence. The damn woman took far too much on her own shoulders, she always had. And while Kima had suspected that Allura was just trying to keep her still, she also knew Allura wouldn’t waste her time with something frivolous. It wasn’t in her nature. So yes, Kima had taken notes. Maybe not the best notes. She may have drifted off for a while, but Allura was stressed, and Kima didn’t think it necessary to mention that. She was pretty sure she had been awake for the general’s report, at any rate.

She dug through her little bag, where it rested on the nightstand. There! Paper. A little crumpled, but at least it was intact.

Spreading the papers out on the bed in front of her, Kima started scanning, trying to find the relevant section. The pages had gotten jumbled in transit.

“Ah, here!” she cried at last, finding the page she was looking for. “The general said that in his experience, sky ships traveling over the desert typically-“

A hand pressed against Kima’s shoulder, making her jump. She had been so focused she hadn’t heard Allura approach.

“Hey! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Allura chuckled behind her. She leaned over Kima’s shoulder, trying to read the notes spread out on the bed, but before she could Kima hurriedly scooped them up.

“I mean it’s not like my handwriting is all that great or anything, they’re not exactly a thrilling read,” she rambled, struggling to gather the pages.

“Okay,” Allura said, amused. Kima clambered onto the bed, notes firmly in hand, and started to shuffle through them to find the page she had just been reading from.

“Kima?’ Allura’s voice sounded. Kima glanced up. “You missed a page.”

Before Kima could reclaim the paper, however, Allura froze, eyes on the text.

“Kima,” she said, thinly veiled excitement filling her voice, “did the general really say this? About the caravans?”

She handed the page over and Kima looked at the line in question. She shrugged. “I mean I don’t exactly sit around making up boring negotiation talk in my spare time. If I wrote it down he probably said it.” She eyed the page again, trying to think back through the endless slog of discussion and debate. “Oh yeah, I remember that. He seemed a little shifty, so I jotted it down.”

A huge grin had crossed Allura’s face and Kima could tell that if she were any less dignified she would have been jumping up and down. “Kima, that directly contradicts what he told us later. We have to take this in front of the council!”

Before Kima could protest, Allura had snatched the rest of her notes from her hands and hurried back to her desk, tossing papers and a few spare quills into her bag.

“Wait, no! Allie!”

“We have to hurry, Kima, this is important!”

“But Allie-“

“No time! Come on!”

Before Kima could get another word out, Allura had grabbed her hand, and the world flashed blue around them. When the bright light subsided, Kima found herself standing in front of the council chambers.

***

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Allura.” Asum said.

The entire council was gathered around a table in one of the meeting rooms. Kima sat in the corner, face flaming red and buried in her hands.

Across from her, Tofor started giggling.

Asum sighed. “Tofor. Do you have something constructive to add?”

Tofor giggled again, one hand across her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. “No, I’m sorry. I just- I didn’t expect Kima to be a doodler!” Several other council members broke as well, struggling to contain their laughter.

Kima groaned.

“No, no!” Tofor assured her. “Don’t get me wrong, Kima, this is an excellent rendition of a chicken eating the general.”

Allura sighed.

“Look at this one! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog in trousers before,” someone else added.

There was a shuffling of papers as the drawings were passed around and compared.

“Wait,” Tofor said, reaching for the stack. “Does this- it does! Look! ‘A + K Vysoren’ surrounded by little hearts!”

A chorus of “awwwws” sounded from around the table. “Okay, that’s enough!” Allura said, snatching the paper out of Tofor’s hand. “As much as I would love to stand around appreciating my wife’s art, we should really focus on- oh. Is that me? Kima, darling, that’s very sweet of you.”

If it were possible Kima was certain her face would have flushed a few shades redder. As it was she could feel the blush crawling up into her hairline. “I’m out,” she announced, standing.

“No, wait, Kima!” Tofor said. She sounded genuinely apologetic. “I’m sorry. We’ll stop now, I promise.”

Kima glared at her. Before she could say anything else, Allura took her hand gently and guided her to a corner where they could talk a little more privately. She gathered her skirts and knelt carefully in front of Kima - something she virtually never did in public. In front of Sirrus and Dohla and Ghenn, yes. But rarely anyone else. She was, Kima realized with a start, equalizing the playing field, in a sense. Being vulnerable in front of the others like this. She tucked a strand of Kima’s hair behind her ear, cutting her reflections short. “I’m sorry, love. I should have checked with you before handing over your notes like that.”

“It’s okay,” Kima said with a sigh. “I know it was important. I just can’t show my face again for a bit.”

Allura laughed and kissed her forehead. “That’s not true. I think they were impressed by your drawings, if anything. I might keep the ones you did of me.”

Kima ducked her head to hide her smile. “Whatever. They’re just stupid doodles. I hope you find what you need, though.”

Allura smiled and pulled her into a hug. “I think we have. Thanks for saving the day again.”

Kima glanced around, eyeing the rest of the council suspiciously. To their credit they appeared to be trying to give them space, gathered around one of the pages and either locked in heated debate regarding the contents, or animated discussion of another of Kima’s drawings. Kima fervently hoped it was the former.

Taking her chance, she pressed a quick kiss to Allura’s cheek before turning on her heel and running out the door. “See you at home!” she called over one shoulder. Allura’s quiet chuckle followed her as she hurried down the hall.

[vexing-imogen]

you know how i feel

it’s a new dawn it’s a new day it’s a new life for me and i’m feeling good

(set in the same universe as Nein for a Night, but two years earlier)

If you were to ask Vex where she thought she’d be spending New Dawn’s Eve, Allura Vysoren’s Cloudtop penthouse wouldn’t have made her top five guesses. It wouldn’t have made her top twenty guesses, to be perfectly honest. Sure, Allura was lovely and kind and always made a point to talk to Vex and her friends whenever they met, but she was also a wealthy grad student who was friends with the literal heir to the throne. And the SHITs (as their group chat was so lovingly named)? Well, they were eight undergrads crammed into a crumbling townhouse in the Outer Slums.

But, while the invitation had been completely unexpected, they were never ones to turn down free booze (or food...or anything, for that matter...). So, here they were, thirty minutes to midnight, rubbing shoulders with Emon University elite. Pike had bribed Grog into wearing pants and shoes, though he’d dug his heels in at the mention of a tie, and even Vex had dipped into her precious savings to buy a new dress for the occasion.

The dress is perfect, all black silk and blue lace, just long enough to avoid being indecent, but still sexy enough to make Percy fumble his phone when she’d come down the stairs. That had been a rather pleasant ego boost, with the added bonus of giving her hope that Percy’s feelings for her perhaps mirrored her own for him.

She can see him now, across the room standing at the bar (and seriously, Allura has a fucking bar in her apartment? What the fuck?), making small talk with Uriel Tal’dorei himself. Tiberius would be shitting himself with jealousy, if he weren’t too busy flirting with Allura, utterly oblivious to the halfling, who is most definitely Allura’s girlfriend, glaring daggers at him. Only, Vex can tell that Percy’s bored and looking for an out. And what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t help him?

Vex approaches the bar under the guise of refilling her champagne, and the snippet of conversation she manages to catch is enough to have her eyes glazing over. And she’s majoring in Finance. Percy, while good with money, really could not care less about business or accounting, or, specifically, the inner workings of inter-continental trade agreements.

She waits for Uriel to end his current spiel, and for Percy to respond before she interrupts. “I am so sorry, your Grace,” she says, addressing the Sovereign-to-be, “I know it’s terribly rude of me, but would you mind if I steal Percival away from you? There’s a rather pressing conversation I’ve been meaning to have with him.”

Uriel, for his part, smiles graciously. “Not at all, Miss Vex’ahlia. Steal away,” he says. “I apologize for taking up so much of your time, Percival. I know I have a tendency to monopolize conversation. The perils of being a politician, I suppose.”

“It was a pleasure, really,” Percy lies, shaking Uriel’s hand. “Have a happy New Dawn, your Grace.”

Vex links their arms and steers them towards the balcony, which is deserted because it’s Duscar and therefore really fucking cold. She barely has time to shiver in the winter air before Percy is draping his heavy, blue coat over her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she says, getting her arms into the sleeves and snuggling in. She probably looks ridiculous, bundled in his oversized coat like a child. If only she could be bothered to care.

Percy smirks, sips his own drink. “You saved my life just now. I thought it only polite to return the favor.”

She laughs. “It was either rescue you, or watch you turn your napkin into a swan, and we all made a deal to not embarrass ourselves for Allura’s sake.”

He laughs too, but then falls silent for a few minutes. When he does speak again, he sounds nervous, and she can’t decide if it’s a good omen or bad. “Vex,” he starts, “do you...actually have something that you want to discuss with me, or was that just made up to get me away from Uriel?” He doesn’t wait for her response. “Because, even if it was just made up, I think that we really do need to talk. About...certain things.”

About my birthday, she thinks. About the wild party all those months ago, where she and Percy got shitfaced and made out in his workshop. Where she woke up in his bed, fully clothed and stupidly hungover, and panicked and ran. Where she pretended not to remember any of that night, including the bit where he told her that he was in love with her and then kissed her senseless before she dragged him off somewhere private.

“No, you’re right,” she says, downing half of her champagne in one go. “We do need to talk.” She takes a deep breath and looks him in the eye. Because, as much as she wants to, she can’t be a coward now. “I’m sorry, Percy.”

He nods. “For what?” he prompts.

“For lying to you,” she says, gnawing on her lip. “The morning after me and Vax’s birthday, I told you that I didn’t remember anything that had happened the night before. But, I lied. I remembered...I remember everything.”

He nods again, smiles sadly. “I thought that you must,” he admits. “You were so distant after that night. I could only conclude that I’d...said too much. Freaked you out. Scared you off. Made you hate me.”

She takes his free hand in hers, squeezes. “I could never hate you, darling,” she promises. “Quite the opposite, really.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Vex...”

“You did scare me,” she confesses. “I mean, gods Percy, you’d never made any indication before then that you had so much as a crush, and then you were telling me that you were in love with me, and you kissed me. And I certainly didn’t stop you, I didn’t want to stop you, but I’d never really considered...and then I woke up, and I wasn’t drunk anymore, and it was real, but it was all too much, and I panicked.”

Percy cups her cheek with the hand that she doesn’t currently have in a death grip, wipes away tears she didn’t even realize were falling. “I’m sorry for putting you through all of that,” he says. “I never meant to spring that on you the way that I did. I was drunk, and I wasn’t thinking rationally, and we’d been flirting all night, so I just thought fuck it and put it all out there, without any regard as to how you might feel about it.” He squeezes her hand. “I was never angry with you for lying, for distancing yourself. It was perfectly rational, once I had time to think clearly about it.”

She smiles sadly. “I only distanced myself so that I could sort out my feelings properly. And then once I did...” She chuckles ruefully. “Well, let’s just say I probably owe my brother and Pike a lifetime’s worth of drinks for dealing with that whole mess.”

Percy laughs. “That certainly explains some things.”

“What things, Percy?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing of consequence, dear. Harmless pranks, I can tell you later.”

Vex shrugs. “I don’t really care, in all honesty,” she says. “Just tell me one thing, Percy.”

“What’s that, Vex’ahlia?”

She swallows her nerves. “Are you still in love with me?”

He smiles. “Yes.” He brings her hand to his lips, kisses it. “Tell me one thing in return, Vex?” She nods. “Have you sorted out your feelings for me?”

“Yes.” She licks her lips. “Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third, I am hopelessly in love with you.”

The grin that splits his face is the brightest she’s ever seen from him. “Well then.” He ducks his head as she surges up to meet him, and then they’re kissing. And it could be minutes or it could be years, but she thinks she’s never experienced a more pleasurable way to lose track of time.

The spell is broken by the sound of the party counting down to midnight. “We’re going to miss the fireworks,” Percy mumbles against her lips.

Vex grins. “I couldn’t give a fuck about fireworks right now, Percy. You?”

He presses his forehead to hers, cups her face in his hands. “With you right in front of me, how could I?”

[dancerwrites]

edge of collapse

written for CritRole Rarepair Week, Day 1 - Non-romantic relationship: Cassandra de Rolo & Allura Vysoren

cr spoilers (for episodes 102-110) words: 2.2k

definitely the longest thing I’m planning on writing for this week, and it still turned out longer than I planned - I love Cass, and I still need to write something happy for her one of these days

Cassandra waited in the library, the room with the most windows, but against the outside wall, facing the door. Her fingers were clenched tightly around a book she couldn’t find the presence of mind to digest, and she feels like a child again (still?) as she stares at the fine script, unable to comprehend the words.

Normally, when receiving a guest, she would be in her study, but the room was never bright enough, not even on the sunniest of days. And she felt the need for as much light and warmth as she could muster.

After the skies had been painted black in broad strokes of black swathes of cloud, the townspeople had come to her with questions and worries – asking if the Briarwoods were back, or if they had followers who still needed to be driven out. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to tell them yes or no, but fortunately they believed her assurances that things would be all right. They trusted their leaders, even if Cassandra couldn’t help worrying that their trust was misplaced.

She had briefly considered meeting near the ziggurat, but since her brother had returned to tell her that Delilah had come back to life, she’d felt acutely uncomfortable anywhere near the place. Cassandra also wanted magic available to them if something went south.

A knock on the library door jolted Cassandra back to her senses, and she stood, closing the book, and called an invitation to come in.

Allura stepped through the door, and Cassandra stepped forward to meet her, cursing the relief she felt as seeing the arcanist in her familiar blue robes.

“Lady Cassandra.”

“Arcanist Allura,” Cassandra returned, dropping into a short curtsey. “Thank you for coming so quickly. As I said in the sending stone, we know very little about what has happened. The crisis orbs were lit, the sky has gone dark, and all that we know is there is a threat of something far west, something growing in power.”

“Peace. Let us sit down first, and get comfortable before we discuss the matter at hand. I was told there would be tea?”

Cassandra glanced over to the table in front of the fire, where an untouched tea set had been placed, and nodded, feeling a warmth spread over her cheeks. “Yes, of course, where are my manners?” she murmured, striding over to the table. “You take yours with one sugar, if I remember correctly?”

“You do,” Allura agreed, following her over to the fireplace, and taking a seat on the armchair that she had frequented whenever resting in the castle during Thordak’s occupation of Emon. They’d had many cups of tea together, this was no different.

Pouring the tea with shaking hands was not too difficult, but spilling the sugar was a nearly-avoided mess. Cassandra presented the tea to Allura a few moments later, taking her own back to her usual chair for their talks, despite its view of the sky outside.

Allura took a sip and smiled. “There is something about Whitestone’s tea that is simply better than that I might find in Emon. Perhaps I should have brought some of it back instead of the mead the last time I was here.”

Cassandra was lost for words for a moment, but nodded, holding her own tea cup in her hands and trying to stay poised instead of pulling her knees up to her chest.

“Perhaps,” she echoed, rubbing her thumb over the rip of her cup.

There was silence for a long moment, and Cassandra looked up to see Allura looking at her, a slight frown on her face.

Casually straightening up, Cassandra took a sip of tea and took the lead.

“So, as I was saying, I hoped you might have more information on our… predicament than we do in Whitestone.”

Allura sighed. “We learned nothing more from the crisis orbs – we received the same information in Emon that Whitestone did. From the more recent dreams, however, we discovered a bit more. I presume you’ve had these visions?”

A chill ran down Cassandra’s spine as she remembered the visions of destruction and shadow.

“I have.”

“In these dreams, there is a symbol in the sky, at least, for some of us,” Allura said, reaching into her robe, and pulling out a small piece of parchment. Drawn on it was a mark reminiscent of a hand, all too familiar to Cassandra.

Helping Lady Briarwood into her dress was almost painfully awkward, despite the fact that Cassandra was pleased to help in any way possible. Delilah’s previous chamber maid had gone mysteriously missing after a breakdown in the kitchens, and Cassandra had been filling in until a replacement could be found.

“Could you button me up, dearest?”

“Right away, Ma’am,” Cassandra murmured, skirting around the Lady and going to pull the two sides of the dress together.

“Please, as I’ve said, call me Delilah,” she scolded gently, but Cassandra’s attention was captured by light gray ink half-covered by the forest green fabric. “Cassandra? Dear?”

“Sorry,” Cassandra murmured immediately, meeting Delilah’s eyes in the mirror before shaking her head and starting on the buttons, “Delilah.”

“That’s better, dear, good job,” Delilah murmured, and Cassandra felt a rush of warmth fill her. She nodded courteously, and, feeling a bit more confident after Lady Delilah’s praise, dared to ask about the tattoo.

“Oh, that small thing?” she chuckled, reaching an arm behind her to pull the fabric back away from the mark, and Cassandra saw more clearly the four points reaching up from a circle that had previously been obscured by the fabric. “It’s just a symbol, a memory of something we’re hoping to restore.”

“Restore?” Cassandra echoed, brow furrowing. The Briarwoods had been in Whitestone for nearly three years now, and she’d heard very little of their plans beyond wanting to take over Whitestone, which were already plain.

“Nothing you need to worry yourself about, dear – they were once an acquaintance of mine and Sylas, but unfortunate circumstances – the same that caused us to leave Wildmount and find a home here – came about. Now please, we really should be getting to dinner. Button me up and we can head down together, how does that sound?”

“The Whispered One,” Cassandra murmured, and Allura looked up sharply. “The one the Briarwoods served, that’s his symbol.”

“Yes,” Allura said, “We discovered that through some digging, and found his name to be Vecna, colloquially known as the Undying King.”

Cassandra couldn’t help the shiver at his moniker, and took another sip of tea, nodding. “Do we know what’s happening? My brother informed me that Lady Briarwood had returned – is she working with this… Vecna?”

Allura’s eyes widened. “Lady Briarwood? Back from the grave? If that is so, then I have no doubt she is in league with him. What we do know, from some of Kima’s contacts in Vasselheim, is that they have experienced the same clouds and visions, and our contacts as far east as Stilben say the same. It seems he is mounting some sort of attack on Issylra, though his reach is farther than any mortal should be able to stretch.”

And reaching ever farther, came a slithering, silky voice inside Cassandra’s head, nearly making her drop her cup.

“Fuck,” she swore, forgetting herself for a moment. “Did you hear that?”

She felt her hands shaking, and put her half-empty tea to the side.

Allura shook her head, eyes wide and brow furrowed. “What was it?”

“A voice,” Cassandra said, looking around the library, catching sight of the clouds outside the tall windows. She could have sworn she saw a laughing face appear out of the clouds. “It said he was reaching farther.”

Allura hummed, taking a final sip of her own tea before setting it aside.

“I’m assuming you will pass on all this information to Taryon?”

“Of course. He’s been hard at work fixing Doty, but I’ve seen him here and there – he will know what’s happened.”

Folding her hands in her lap was a good way of keeping her fingers from fidgeting with her sleeves. Cassandra did not mention to Allura that the last time she had seen Tary was him holding his dragon tooth necklace, the red glow representing a fallen member of Vox Machina pulsing out from between his clasped hands. She also didn’t explain how he’d locked himself away since then, or that she’d been worrying for three days about not having any word from her brother and his friends.

“And he is still intent on heading back to Wildmount?” Allura asked, resting her elbows on either arm of her chair and leaning forward slightly. “We- Kima and I- are visiting Vasselheim tomorrow, hoping to learn more from them. From what she’s said, the leaders from each member of the pantheon represented there hold a gathering to discuss any potential dangers to the city, and we are hoping to catch them in it. It would be advantageous for him to come with us, and potentially stay, since Kima and I owe allegiance to Emon now. That is, we will be returning once we have discovered their course of action.”

“You can ask him,” Cassandra murmured, trying not to think about how she’d avoided the rooms in the front of the castle so as not to catch even a glimpse of the house her brother and sister-in-law had built together. “But I can honestly say I’m not sure what his answer will be.”

“That’s entirely fair,” Allura agreed with a nod. “I must say, I’m not sure what we will find in Vasselheim, but I would prepare Whitestone for defense if something does come across the waters and chooses again to target Tal’dorei.”

“We’re too weak to fight anything off!”

The words had slipped from her lips before she could think, and Cassandra’s eyes burned as she tried to calm herself again.

“We have perhaps a dozen trained Riflemen, and the Pale Guard, whose ranks still haven’t been filled. What do we do if… whatever this is comes to pass?”

Allura, her lips pressed tightly together, shook her head. “Pray to the Dawnfather and hope for the best,” she suggested, waving a hand in the direction of town, of the Sun Tree. “Use the tunnels that Keyleth created during Vorugal’s attempt on the city to shelter until reinforcements can be found. I know you have been strengthening them.”

“We have,” Cassandra agreed, and she took a deep breath as she felt her throat close up as her chest tightened, her heart pounding. Then, after a moment of silence, “Yes, we can do that.”

Cassandra shook her head and rolled her shoulders back, taking another deep breath. “Thank you for the information and your help, Allura. Was there anything else I needed to know before you go? I know you said you needed to keep your visit relatively short.”

“Nothing regarding the safety of Exandria, no,” Allura murmured, chuckling dryly. “Though I would ask a favor.”

“Yes?”

“That you take a few moments to yourself tonight, perhaps even find some company to distract you from all that will or might come to pass,” Allura said, shifting closer to Cassandra.

“I-“

Cassandra felt conflicted, but she had more manners than to throw back Allura’s suggestion in her face.

“One cannot stand alone against the terrors of this world, Cassandra. Find something to hold onto, or someone, even if it’s for a couple hours, yes?”

“I’ll try,” Cassandra relented, though as Allura smiled and stood up, Cassandra felt her stomach turn and found she could not bring herself to do the same.

“You’re doing admirably with the resources you have,” Allura said, taking a step closer.

“But all that I’m doing is not good enough – it’s never enough,” Cassandra protested, closing her eyes and turning away as she felt Allura take a few steps closer. “And if I take a night to myself…” She trailed off as Allura’s hand rested on her shoulder.

“It’s your best, and that’s all anyone should be asking for,” Allura murmured, and Cassandra looked up through blurry vision to see her face, understanding and soft, even if pity was what she had expected.

“And I can’t give you much reassurance, but I will let you know tomorrow, after we return, if we see Vox Machina or hear word of their exploits from those in Vasselheim. They are, of course, drawn to trouble like moths to a flame. I have little doubt that they will find their way there.”

Cassandra nodded, shrugging off Allura’s hand, and joined her to stand.

“Thank you again for visiting, Lady Allura.”

“My pleasure, Lady Cassandra,” Allura agreed, and she gave a short bow of her head before turning to leave, Cassandra following to escort her out, as was polite.

“Pelor’s light guide you,” Cassandra murmured, the familiar blessing rolling off her tongue.

“And you as well,” Allura replied, a smile gracing her lips once again as she opened the double doors to the library. “I will check in with Taryon, and send word to you tomorrow of what we find in Vasselheim.”

“I look forward to hearing the news,” Cassandra agreed, nodding graciously and watching as Allura gracefully slid out the door, closing it behind her.

Cassandra was left in the library, the sky outside dark with clouds, a chill over her skin, and only the faintest sliver of hope in her chest as she rested her forehead against the relief of the de Rolo crest on the wood of the doors.

A sliver would have to be enough.