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grailfinders · 11 months ago

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Grailfinders #331: Taigong Wang

today on Grailfinders we’re making Jiang Ziya, a.k.a. Jiang Shang, a.k.a. Lu Shang, a.k.a. Master Shangfu, a.k.a. Taikoubou, a.k.a. Taigong Wang. almost as numerous as his aliases are his accomplishments, such as ousting the daji from China, defeating the shang dynasty, and even creating quite a few gods through the power of being a really cool dude.

thankfully his build is slightly less complicated than his biography- he’s a Beast Master Ranger for a shape-shifting mount, and a Drunken Master Monk to blend strategy with a god-slashing whip- and also that cool “step on their head” attack.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

next up: it’s like someone stuck Artoria and Siegfried in a conceptual blender

Ancestry & Background

Taigong Wang is a Human, giving him +1 Dexterity and Wisdom, as well as proficiency in Acrobatics. you also get a feat of your choice here, but we’ll talk about that after we go over his background.

we’ve done plenty of tacticians before, but most of those guys weren’t running around with secrets from ancient mage societies, so we’re calling Shangfu a Mage of High Sorcery here, in part because of his investiture and secret magics, and in part because we need this background for a later feat. this gives you proficiency in Arcana and History, as well as the Initiate of High Sorcery feat- we’re grabbing the Lunitari version of the feat for Feather Fall and Longstrider- yes you’re a monk and that makes these spells mostly useless, but you don’t start as one, and multiclassing makes your speed and falling a little weaker than a full monk. you also get the True Strike cantrip to be all tactical and gain advantage on your next melee attack, but after six seconds of thinking you’ll realize the real tactical move was just to attack twice.

that being said it’s called the investiture of the gods for a reason, so we need to get a little godly. coming back around to your human feat, you’re also a Scion of the Outer Planes, specifically the good ones. this gives you resistance to radiant damage (making you an even better pick to fight gods), and you can cast Sacred Flame at will. I don’t think fire is part of your kit, but you’re practically a caster anyway, it’s fine.

Ability Scores

your Wisdom needs to be number 1, that’s how you know clever tactics like “don’t fuck up your government” and “don’t hire people who are bad at their job for your army”. I know it’s easy to clown on that now, but somebody had to figure it out the first time, right? second is Intelligence- if we didn’t need monk stuff and a horse you’d probably be a wizard, but you’re still smart regardless. your Dexterity is also pretty high because you don’t wear armor and use a whip. both of those make me question the “genius tactician” thing a bit, but they clearly work for you. this does mean your Constitution isn’t particularly high, but you don’t need HP if you don’t get hit. your Strength is neutral since we just don’t need it for the build, and we’re dumping Charisma. you’re so untrustworthy Fou gets merlin vibes from you. yikes.

Class Levels

1. Ranger 1: sadly, we need ranger levels first and foremost both to get your whip proficiency and so your background makes sense, but on the plus side at least you can have celestials as your Favored Enemy, giving you advantage to track them down and recall information about them. you put a lot of gods in heaven to begin with, it would be awkward if you forgot their names after all that.

you’re also a Deft Explorer, but before I go into that- you’re proficient with Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as Athletics, Perception, and Insight. the reason I bring this up is because the first part of deft explorer makes you Canny in one skill, such as Insight, doubling your proficiency bonus with it.

2. Ranger 2: second level rangers get a fighting style, and obviously we’re grabbing Duelist for a +2 bonus to one-handed attacks. whips are bad, but now it’s better. slightly.

also, you learn Spells that you cast using your wisdom, like Ensnaring Strike for a sick whip trick, forcing the next person you whip to make a strength save or become restrained for up to a minute. while trapped, they also take damage from the whip digging into them! if you’re worried about wasting damage on a long-term spell like that, you can instead use Hunter’s Mark, adding damage to your whip for up to an hour, plus you have advantage to track the target down if they flee. you also get a chance to move the spell over to another target after the current one dies, so it’s pretty economical!

3. Monk 1: okay, we’ve got the basics of whipping down, let’s get the rest of your fighting style. as a monk you gain Unarmored Defense, adding your wisdom score to your AC as long as you’re not wearing armor or a shield. I don’t care how sick the drip is, it’s not armor.

you also learn some Martial Arts, so now your whole body is a deadly weapon. you can use your dexterity instead of strength to attack with monk weapons or your fists, and if you use your action to attack with the aforementioned weapons you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action. on top of that, your monk weapons and fists also do a minimum of a d4 of damage, and that amount will only go up as you level up. your whip isn’t a monk weapon yet, but give it a second- besides, it doesn’t gain much from martial arts at the moment anyway.

4. Monk 2: now that the second is up, second level monks can make their whip a Dedicated Weapon, so you can call it a monk weapon all you want after an hour of prep work. you also get Unarmored Movement, so you’re faster than everyone, and your Ki makes you even faster by letting you dash as a bonus action by spending some. you can also spend it to attack twice, dodge, or disengage as a bonus action, and your ki pool recharges every short rest.

5. Monk 3: at third level, this game finally becomes a party as you become a Drunken Master- you don’t actually have to be drunk for this, but you do have to act like it. that’s why you have proficiency with Performance and brewer’s supplies so you can pick for yourself.

that being said, beer doesn’t win every fight, so you get actual features too- your Drunken Technique means that every time you use a flurry of blows (the two attacks as a bonus action from last level) you also disengage, and your movement speed increases by 10’ to boot. maneuvering is always a big part of tactics, so anything that makes it easier for you to get where you want to go is just good strategy.

you can also Deflect Missiles now, reducing damage from incoming archers and even throwing the arrow back if you nullify the damage and spend ki.

6. Monk 4: fourth level monks get their first Ability Score Increase, so increase that Dexterity for better dodging and more accurate attacks. you can also Slow Fall now for reduced fall damage, so fighting Nikitich isn’t quite as bad an idea as before.

7. Monk 5: fifth level is huge for monks, if you’re the kind of person to like hitting things. your martial arts improve to deal d6s, you get an Extra Attack each action, and you can turn any attack into a Stunning Strike- force a constitution save on someone, or they get stunned for a round, giving advantage to everyone trying to hit them and keeping them from retaliating. “don’t get hit” is also pretty sage advice. of course, all this still requires you to hit someone- thankfully you can use Focused Aim by spending ki to add to your attack rolls. it’s a huge ki sink, but sometimes defeating an enemy now is more important than saving materials for later. I know, strategy, in the strategist build, wild right?

8. Monk 6: sixth level monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes, so now your unarmed attacks are magical and can overcome resistances to bludgeoning damage. it’s a shame this doesn’t apply to your whip as well, but I feel like any kind of god-chastising whip is more of a quest item than something you should just have. don’t worry though, by the end of this build your whip will be strong enough to chastise a lot of things, even if it isn’t a legendary weapon.

that being said, your Tipsy Sway is a pretty cool consolation prize- you can leap to your feet from prone for just 5’ of movement, and you can spend a ki point to redirect attacks that miss you into hitting another creature. I’m pretty sure that’s more Sun Tzu than Taigong, but the smartest people know when someone else had a good idea.

9. Monk 7: seventh level monks get Evasion, improving the damage reduction from dexterity saves. now you’re practically immune to fireballs, so fighting Nikitich is almost starting to look like a good idea!

you also have a Stillness of the Mind that lets you shut down any effects that are charming or frightening you. you don’t have a choleric temper, so enemies will not be irritating you much. wait, no, that’s still Sun Tzu, sorry.

10. Monk 8: I think we’re about at the point where you hit your third ascension, but before then we’re getting another ASI and making you an Adept of the Red Robes. first, this gives you access to a second level spell that you can cast for free once a day. for this build we’re grabbing Dragon’s Breath for your mount later, but if you want to help Guda and company when you first meet up you could grab Levitate instead. right now you can only cast it via this feat, but you can use second level spell slots to cast it like a normal spell once we get those.

thankfully, that’s not the only thing this feat does. you can also restore magical balance whenever you make an attack or check, turning your roll into a roll of ten, up to proficiency times per day. your strategy might not always work, but at least it will never fail.

11. Ranger 3: I think we’re doing good on the whip, but we’re not quite godly enough yet. heading back to ranger at least lets you hunt them down easier with Primeval Awareness- you can spend a spell slot to detect celestials within a mile of you, as well as various other kinds of extraplanar monsters. that means it should work pretty well against Koyanskaya too- or at least it would if she hadn’t surrounded herself with all other sorts of monsters.

you’re also a Beast Master now, which means you can summon a shape-shifting Primal Companion to pal around with. none of them can technically be ridden, but tbf you don’t look super comfortable on that tapir anyway. you and your companion both move on your turn, but the only way to make your animal do anything but dodge requires you to spend your bonus action telling it what to do. or for you to get knocked out. nobody said good strategies are easy to pull off.

you can spend spell slots to resummon a dead companion, or wait until you finish a long rest to summon one for free.

on top of that, you get another spell- since we’re not getting true flight, I hope grabbing Zephyr Strike will make up for that somewhat. for a minute you get free disengaging, and you can end the spell early to get advantage on a weapon attack and deal extra damage if it hits. on top of that, your walking speed increases by 30’ that round, letting you blast yourself a truly silly amount of distance.

12. Ranger 4: fourth level rangers get another ASI, and it’s finally time for you to become a Righteous Heritor. that increases your Dexterity score by one, and you can protect your allies by spending your reaction to reduce any incoming damage for them, up to proficiency times a day.

I’m not actually expecting anyone playing this build to have to come up with clever strategies all the time; having a couple “whoops we fucked up” buttons that undo damage is just as good.

13. Ranger 5: fifth level would be a dead level for you, but thankfully rangers get second level spells! it’s still not flying, but Gust of Wind can knock people around with air, so it’s the closest we’re getting. (plus if you gust someone off a cliff they’re technically flying… downward… for a short period of time…)

14. Ranger 6: sixth level rangers get another favored enemy, and if Daji isn’t a celestial she’s probably an Aberration. you don’t get any new additions to the feature, but it works on twice as many monsters. what is new this time around is your new Deft Explorer feature, Roving. you get a small boost in movement speed, and you have a climbing and swimming speed now. have you seen Chinese mountains? honestly it would probably be easier to just run straight up them.

15. Monk 9: ninth level monks can run straight up them thanks to your Unarmored Movement Improvement- as long as your turn ends on solid, flat ground, you can run over water or up walls. you might think this makes the last level of ranger useless, but having a climbing speed should make it easier to latch onto the cliff face in-between turns so you don’t just fall all the way back down. clever thinking like that’s why you’re a strategist.

16. Monk 10: tenth level monks have a Purity of Body that makes you immune to disease or poison. as far as I’m aware, Taigong Wang never got sick or poisoned in the Investiture of the Gods, and that book’s 100 chapters long. this is mostly because I never read the thing, but still.

17. Monk 11: eleventh level monks get d8s for their martial arts, but more importantly you have a Drunkard’s Luck- or possibly a drunkard’s strategy. whenever you’d have to make an attack, save, or check at disadvantage, you can spend two ki points to cancel it. this also works on rolls where your advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out, which is extra fun. combine this with your magical balance, and now your plans should never fail.

18. Monk 12: we had to spend so many ASIs on feats that one of our stats is still odd, so this last one will be no different. the Slasher feat will even out your Dexterity, but it also reduces a targets speed when they take slashing damage from your whip, and critical hits force disadvantage on that creatures attack rolls for a turn. crits are luck-based, but luck is just strategy you’re too humble to claim ownership of.

19. Monk 13: our penultimate level gives you a Tongue of the Sun and Moon, letting you speak and understand all languages. if you get a couple hundred gods into heaven, you can skip your duolingo practice, those are the rules.

20. Monk 14: the real reason we stuck with monk for so long, our final level gives you a Diamond Soul, granting you proficiency on all saving throws, and even if you fail one, you can spend a ki point to reroll it. having to maintain concentration on hunter’s mark is the worst part of being a ranger, and now that shackle is lifted. go forth, and slap things with slightly more damage than usual.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

Hunter’s Mark is always a fantastic spell to have on a monk due to how many attacks you get each turn. monks already do decent damage, and when you have your mark up you can put some serious pain on people. being able to almost constantly have the thing active since you’ll never drop concentration is also a nice bonus of the build.

speaking of, you almost never fail at anything. you can give yourself advantage, ignore disadvantage, and even fudge your roll a couple times a day. some call it luck, but if it came from a build you chose to use, that’s strategy. and Taigong Wang is a damn good strategist.

whip monks are also great, it’s a shame the last one we built was like, Cursed Arm. you’re already ridiculously fast, and by using a reach weapon you can attack enemies and bolt without needing to disengage, then run out of their reach so they can’t even attempt to retaliate. it’s not quite flight, but it’s up there in terms of good strategy.

Cons:

you can do a lot, but most of that a lot lands in your bonus action, forcing you to choose between most monk abilities. ranger spells, or actually using your beast. variety tends to be a better build goal than just doing one thing well, but it will mean you have to actually think about what you want to do and when.

we also grab a lot of feats, so your overall stat total is lower than most people’s. it’s not a huge issue, but it does mean you’re squishier than I’d like and your spells aren’t powerful.

Beast Master. just. beast master. literally any other ranger subclass would have been a more useful pick, but we needed a shapeshifting buddy. you can’t even ride on him- at least, not comfortably. your tapir will almost certainly die in one round if you take it into a fight, and even trying to use it in combat blocks you from using a ton of your monk abilities.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Taigong Wang

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ladyshivs · 2 years ago

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So I heard you made a new Sidestep 👀

Who are they? Do they romance anyone? What path are they taking in game? What is their scar? I want to know everything, so take this as a formal invitation to gush about them!

Ah!! Thank you!🥰🥰🥰🥰 I’ll do my best to give a good overview for him:

His name is Salvatore Anzetti. He began life as a background antagonist for a prohibition era role play. Then he got reskinned as a vampire clan leader. And now he’s a regene with more than a few bones to pick.

Salvatore “Sal” is a man of indeterminant heritage, with dark black hair worn smoothed down, and a crisp mustache. There are several diagonal scars along his right cheek, as well as one over his lower lip on the left side. As of retribution, he’s wealthy, living in luxury, with a luxurious base and a fashion style that the game calls quirky suits, but that I refer to as marble peacock.

He’s 5’11” 1/2, letting Julia have just a little half inch of height over him. He’s smitten by her, useless for her. He’d be more annoyed, but come on, it’s Julia, who wouldn’t fall head over heels? He goes back to her apartment and makes a fool of himself. But not as big a fool as he could have, if you catch my drift…

He’s got the puppet master scar with a revenge motivation, and ends up with his little ragtag band of loyal mob crew, whom he loves like family. I headcannon that back at the farm, he had a leadership role on his team and the instincts have remained strong. He’s bold, he’s charismatic, he’s devoted. He’s got no particular problem tricking Blaze into burning civilians. He holds grudges like lifelines.

His villain persona is Mafioso, and the armor is a functional design, looking almost like a tuxedo but otherwise just there to keep his body safe. He’s got telepathic boosters and I meant to give him strength, but he ended up with armor instead (everyone point and laugh at the psychic turtle).

I don’t have any proper artwork for him yet, but I have some stats for you from his playthrough:

His daring took a dip at the end of retribution, he finished rebirth with a smooth 92 in daring!

He ends up with the pure as snow achievement, not a single one of the rangers suspecting him. Except Argent. She saw his face and is well aware of who he is, but he’s hoping that he can smooth that over with some schmoozing and letting her have the regenerator.

He’s pretty neutral on Herald, agreeing to train him and seeing potential but not recognizing the threat he could pose moving forward.

Chen is a strange one. They’re both tacticians and Sal frequently finds himself playing inter dimensional chess when they talk. Still. It’s not as combative as it used to be.

He hates to lose friends and even more so, hates to lose allies, but he’s not sure where he stands with Dr. Mortum. He told her about being the villain and revealed himself as a regene to her, now all he can do is wait and see if she values their friendship as much as he was banking on.

The meeting with Hollow Ground went swimmingly! Sal dressed to the nines, didn’t shake hands and had such a polite chat! He doesn’t see what all the fuss is about, he just politely declined and then walked out. Granted, a sniper took out his car on the way out, but whats a little car crash between rival crime lords?

Unfortunately his boldness has caught uh. Everyone’s. Attention. So he’s got to get hobbling and organized, and get started with it toot sweet!

#sidestep #fhr #fallen hero: rebirth #thank you for asking about him!#Salvatore Anzetti

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mortumslab · 10 months ago

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VIS2344

Hey everyone! This briefly introduces Arya Svitkona (Heartbreak), the MC of my FHR Fanfic, Remembering to Be Human. I wanted to give a bit of context as to why Ortega would be so amenable to forgiving Arya!

Bonewizard

__________

Report received on 5/21/20 from [email protected]:

Hey. You asked for this report. This one is a weird case. Almost more of an antihero than a villain.

_______________________

Villain Indexing System

Villain ID: 2344

Last Update: 5/21/20

_______________________

VIS has identified the following information regarding VIS2344:

Name: Heartbreak

Aliases: N/A

Identity: N/A

Physical Abilities:

Expert tactician

Expert martial artist

Known Boosts:

Unknown disintegrative ability

Unknown strength enhancements

Unknown precognitive abilities

See Note #1

Known Armaments:

Plate-woven armor with reflective helmet

Energy conductive armor

See Note #2

Known Associates

Eden (Unknown Surname)

Jake Manalo

Dr. Mortum

Threat Level: S* (See Note #3)

Note #1: The capabilities of this villain are not known. It is speculated that they have some precognition, given the results of the battle with Herald (VIS2344R1).

Note #2: The armor design appears to be specifically to counteract the abilities of Ranger Charge.

Note #3: Villain has not caused any civilian casualties, and nearly every altercation has been with another registered villain. They are not to be approached alone due to the remaining unknowns.

Confirmed VIS2344 Incidents:

#1. 1/23/20: Heritage Museum Incident

Situation Report:

VIS2344 (“Heartbreak”) arrived on the scene following a series of charges placed at strategic regions through the museum. It is worth noting that the explosions were placed the furthest from civilians at the museum. Analysis of the incident indicates these explosions were meant to cause disorder, not damage. VIS2344 then vandalized the new exhibits in the museum. The first Ranger on the scene, Herald (HIS4067), noted that VIS2344 was focused on the exhibit featuring former vigilante and Ranger associate Sidestep (HIS Unknown). Upon confrontation, VIS2344 led Herald outside, where the Ranger lost a physical confrontation. At this point, the second Ranger, Charge (HIS2098), arrived on the scene. Charge confronted VIS2344 and after a brief interaction, was also incapacitated. The third Ranger on the scene, Lady Argent (HIS4050), was able to force VIS2344 into retreating from the site. Lady Argent followed on foot where contact was lost in the sewers to the northwest of the museum.

VIS2344R1 Post-Incident Interviews:

Herald (HIS4067):

Interviewer (I), Herald (H):

I: So, you were the first at the gala?

H: I never left. I was mingling and was in the restroom when the bombs went off. I went to make sure the people closest to the explosions were safe.

I: And what did you find?

H: Some had scrapes, but the explosions looked like they were meant to make a point, not hurt anyone.

I: Why would VIS2344 do that?

H: Can we just call them Heartbreak? I know that name has a bad…history, but it’s easier than the number.

I: We use the number for villains. Why would VIS2344 do that?

H: I don’t know. They didn’t seem to want to hurt anyone, at least not until they ran into us.

I: Can you tell me about your altercation?

H: I mean, what is there to tell? I was beaten. Badly. They nearly destroyed my knee. They told me their name and then knocked me out.

I: And that’s it?

H: Well, I guess the only other thing is that I found them at Sidestep’s exhibit. They seemed to be lost in thought after trashing the whole room. I tried to catch them by surprise, but their armor must have radar because they dodged at the last moment.

I: Do you suspect any connection between the Sidestep exhibit and the name they chose for themselves?

H: It could be a connection. It’s too early to tell, though. A lot of people were hurt by Heartbreak. It could just be a person with a sick sense of humor, too.

End Interview.

Charge (HIS2098):

Interviewer (I), Charge (C):

I: What can you tell me about the gala incident?

C: We were beaten.

I: That’s it?

C: That’s all I’m willing to talk about on record.

I: VIS2344 spoke to you. They didn’t speak to anyone else at length. Why you?

C: I think they know me. I don’t think I know them. They… they told me to question who I worked for. That there were secrets they knew that could bring down a lot of people. That’s all I’m going to say.

I: We need more than that.

C: I said that’s it.

End Interview.

Lady Argent (HIS4050):

Lady Argent would not return calls for a post-incident interview. It is understood that she lost to VIS2344 while in pursuit.

#2. 2/25/20: Carter Mansion Incident

Situation Report: Marshall Steel (HIS2000) encountered VIS2344 while on duty at the Carter mansion. Mayor Alvarez believed Carter’s life would be in danger. Steel reports that VIS2344 approached the mansion under stealth and disabled the electrical systems. At this point, VIS2344 and Steel had an altercation on the stairwell. During this, an unknown explosion destabilized the structure of the building. Steel reports that VIS2344 claimed to have nothing to do with the explosion and led efforts to rescue the staff of the house. They then sacrificed themselves to allow Steel to leave with the final trapped civilians and then disappeared. No body was recovered. It is believed VIS2344 escaped this incident.

VIS2344R2 Post-Incident Interviews:

Marshall Steel (HIS2000):

Interviewer (I), Steel (S):

I: So. They led you to the civilians?

S: No answer.

I: Did they set off the bomb?

S: Yes. They saved the civilians. They knew exactly where they were. And no, they did not set the bomb

I: How did they know where the civilians were?

S: I do not know. Telepathy is a rare boost. I doubt they have some sort of visual power. Could have been their helmet.

I: And the bomb? Do you believe them?

S: It wouldn’t make any sense for Heartbreak to set the bomb and then save the civilians.

End Interview

#3. 4/12/20: Bridge Incident

Situation Report: Incomplete Report. Lady Argent (HIS4050) confronted VIS2344 on the bridge after VIS2344 had stopped the vehicle of District Attorney ***. Following a conversation with the DA, VIS2344 attacked Handyman (HIS4023). After the vigilante was subdued, VIS2344 fought Lady Argent. Argent and VIS2344 remained in combat until Argent fled the scene. Media reports show that Lady Argent had an inappropriate interaction with VIS2344. VIS2344 remained at the scene to speak with the DA and then interact with journalist Mia Ochoa. They then fled the scene before the LDPD could arrive.

VIS2344R3 Post-Incident Interviews:

Lady Argent (HIS4050) would not answer requests for interview.

Other Confirmed Incidents:

VIS2344 was reported to have stolen vast amounts of income from Umbral (VIS1670)

See Note #4

VIS2344 confronted several other registerees in the VIS

See Note #5

VIS2344 and Lady Argent have had several incidents that are filed under HIS4050.

Note #4: While it was done so anonymously, several corroborating reports show that the money stolen from VIS1670 was donated to several charities throughout LD.

Note #5: No other heroes have been accosted by VIS2344. Several henchmen and VIS registerees were apprehended after VIS2344 confronted them.

Private Notes from Registered Users:

(Accessed by Exterior User)

C: Something is weird with this one.

O: I agree. I’m confused why they haven’t done anything beyond beating on us. It felt personal. The name is personal.

C: We need to follow them closely. V’s interaction with HB wasn’t recorded. Probably for a reason. HB nearly died in that incident, but V tells me they seemed to want to die.

O: V said that? What did HB say?

C: A lot, in very few words. We should talk in person.

O: Fine. HB is almost doing a better job of cleaning up the streets than we are.

C: Be careful what you put on here. Let’s talk in person.

O: K.

End Report VIS2344

#fhr #fallen hero #fallen hero retribution

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salty-medley · 8 months ago

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[GW2] Samsara Ashùr

[ will be deleted after] I can't believe I never finished the character sheets for my GW2 babies but it's a bit the same case for all my other fandoms ones, work went kinda crazy and I chose to prioritize illustrations, ropeplay and in game, and let the information on the side but it's never too late I guess, even if rumors about an incoming GW3 in the future start to spread, I don't think I'll let GW2 the same way I let the original game, which I still love a lot but doesn't represent as much to me, except the old Ascalon and Cantha.

Here's a small info dump about Sam before I made her an official sheet.

Full name: Samsara Ashùr but usually called Sam

Youngest kid of Cyrus Ashùr (1), a Vigil warmaster and Juliana, stay at home wife who left them to marry her own cousin and live in Amnoon. He has orrian and south krytan roots.

She has 4 brothers, the eldest, Ashkan (2), is a fire elementalist and a Siegemaster in . Then come the twins, both tacticians in Orr, Farhad ( 3; necromancer) and Kaveh ( 4; earth elementalist). And finally, a mesmer, order representative in DR, Reza ( 4 on the bottom line, sorry for the error).

She arrived in Cantha right after the commander's landing, with the first Pact's soldiers and fell in love with the place. She didn't renew her contract and after working for Joon for a time, chose to became totally independant.

Sam loves speed. And mechanics. Manipulating the engines to increase its speed is her main hobby. But she doesn't forget mounts owning two, a skyscale and a rollerbeetle.

She raised her skyscale, from the egg. The result? Oskàr is a spoiled brat, will steal food or bite people and randomly try to make his rider fall. He thinks he's a raptor and tend to adapt his comportement to be like them. Rolls in the mud or raptor poop when freshly cleaned.

Sam used to have very long hair but after an incident in the Dominions with Svanir adepts involving a sword, she ended forced to cut it and kept it shorter, fearing that someone could once again try to grab her like that.

Due to that, she now is the exact copy ( except the eyes color) of an elonian famous pop singer. She loves to pretend being her just for being offered free stuff, especially during the Metal Legion concerts.

She used to crush easily on cute guys. Before it was Doern V... Right after her arrival to Cantha we can count: Yao ( but they were into the commander) ; Agent Teng ( but he didn't seem interested) ; Detective Rama ( her longer chase, she was very creative just to be arrested) and finally Shun but that one was ok so they are still together. Ended friend with all the previous others, and also like to hang out with Chul Moo in Gyala. Especially opening crates.

Another close friend is another vigil engineer, Caïus.

Loves spices. The spiciest it is, the better it is.

Is the only member of her family who can't use magic well, only managing to create some sparks. She decided to be an engineer after watching some colleagues of her father, learnt with them and found her spe, Holosmith, when she met Baraz near Amnoon.

Blessed by Balthazar, but never was religious. She likes the old tales about him however and doesn't understand how he could turn into what he was in Elona.

Fashionista but broke, she frequently thrifts old armors, repair, uses dyes & cie then style it as regular clothing.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #original character

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horizon-armor · 2 years ago

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Tenakth Marshal | Tenakth Tactician Cold Sands Lowland Stalker Night Blood Renegade Sentinel Scorched Ochre

All Dyes

#armor-name-tactician #armor-name-tactician-1 #armor-tribe-tenakth #armor-tribe-tenakth-1 #armor-rarity-legendary #armor-rarity-legendary-1 #armor-spec-machinemaster #armor-spec-machinemaster-1 #armor-group-tactician

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mortallyclearwonderland · 3 years ago

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Star Wars Alien Species - Ardennian

The Ardennian species is native to Ardennia.

Their prehensile toes and multiple limbs meant that Ardennians were well-suited to military professions, as they could be extremely agile and quick in combat. These traits also made tasks such as preparing food easier, suggesting that many if not all Ardennians were good cooks. Members of the species could be capable pilots, skilled tacticians, and lovers of good stories.

Ardennians are often quick-witted and good-natured. They are extremely talkative, whether it be about how much they like or hate something, or merely commenting on seemingly frivolous matters. This makes them quite likeable with those they interact with, a boon for those Ardennians in the transport business.

Ardennians enjoyed mynock roasts on Ardennia.

Rio Durant, a fighter with Freedom's Sons in his youth, operated as a criminal in Tobias Beckett's gang. He posed as an Imperial Army mudtrooper on Mimban during the Mimban campaign, as part of a heist to commandeer a Y-45 armored transport hauler. Though Rio attempted to blend in as a humanoid, his strange gait and surprising number of arms were noticeable, and fellow mudtrooper Corporal Han Solo correctly identified him as an Ardennian after watching him use his lower arms to hike up his pants. Durant participated in a heist on Vandor, but was fatally shot by one of Enfys Nest's Cloud-Riders.

During the era of the Galactic Empire, the Ardennian Chio Fain worked as a slicer alongside his partner Rone until Rone's death in a skirmish with TIE fighters, after which Fain joined Beilert Valance's team in an effort to hunt down and kill Darth Vader.

In the New Republic era, an Ardennian was present as a prisoner on the New Republic Correctional Transport Bothan-5 when Ranzar Malk's crew launched a rescue of the Twi'lek prisoner Qin.

Ardennians had six dexterous arms, two of which were used as legs. They had a strangely fluid gait and prehensile toes on their feet, and were extremely agile and quick. Their skin tones ranged from blue to tan and gray, and were covered in fur.

Ardennians age at the following stages:

1 - 9 Child

10 - 16 Young Adult

17 - 38 Adult

39 - 56 Middle Age

57 - 64 Old

Examples of Names: Chio Fain, Rio Durant, Rone Main.

Languages: Ardennians have long since integrated into the galactic community, and primarily communicate through Basic. Although the language of Ardennian is hardly a dead one, it is far from widely spoken.

#star wars #star wars species #star wars aliens #Ardennian #star wars Ardennian

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years ago

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5e Azir, the Emperor of the Sands build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Bo Lu. Made for Riot Games.)

SHURIMA WILL RISE

BOTTOM TEXT

From the empress to the emperor: king chicken himself, bottom of the top, and lord of nerfs. Truthfully there’s a lot to be said for such a unique champion as Azir but all that’s shadowed by Riot’s insistence on having him be absolute bottom tier forever more. Well at least he’s pretty alright in Legends of Runeterra.

GOALS

My soldiers march on - The most important feature of Azir is of course his Sand Soldiers, allowing you to be everywhere at once as you command a legion of one to fight for you.

You need not follow me, but you cannot stop me - Can’t have the sand chicken be a sitting duck; we need to be able to dash to our soldiers for protection at a moment’s notice.

My city lives on - We need to be able to summon turrets... I guess? Look all Azir really does is summon soldiers so I don’t really have much to work with.

RACE

Azir may look like a bird but he can’t fly, so we’re not going to be taking any of the bird races. What Azir truly is however is a sand zombie reanimated by his distant daughter’s blood. With that being said we’re going to be going for a Reborn; a race lineage currently in UA that shall soon be published in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2 and another one by 1: give yourself +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity. You also learn a language of your choice: take Celestial to speak like an Ascended! Your Creature Type is both Humanoid and Undead (or Construct, but you were reanimated from the dead so...) and can choose to be either Medium or Small. (You are Medium because you were once human.)

You have Darkvision (which I may as well mention because this lineage doesn’t have much) and your Deathless Nature means that you have a lot of benefits to resist mortal problems like sleep, food, disease, poison, or death saving throws. But your main feature is Knowledge from a Past Life, letting you add a d6 to skill checks you make as you remember something Nasus taught you. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses at the end of a Long Rest.

IF REBORN ISN’T ALLOWED: This build doesn’t really require a particular race / lineage; Reborn just made the most sense. Feel free to play Azir however you want: his build is very generalized and doesn’t require anything specific.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - The main reason we’re opting for DEX over STR is because you need to be able to make ranged attacks when you don’t have Sand Soldiers, but your armor does seem rather light.

14; INTELLIGENCE - Military tactics would be Intelligence, as well as magic which yeah: the guy who summons soldiers made of tiny rocks is in fact a mage.

13; CONSTITUTION - Azir is squishy in-game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have good health for this build.

12; CHARISMA - You need Charisma to lead a nation.

10; WISDOM - Not saying that Azir is dumb, but you did think that freeing the slaves would be a good birthday gift for your super best friend Xerath.

8; STRENGTH - Sand and dust: they both struggle to pick up big weapons.

BACKGROUND

Shurima may be gone, but it won’t take long for you to be recognized as its Noble Emperor once again. With the Noble background you get proficiency with History and Persuasion as well as a Gaming set of your choice (Dragonchess makes sense for a tactician) and a language of your choice (pick your poison.)

You were born into a Position of Privilege, and even if your legacy was lost to the sand most still know to honor your name. You can even use that honor for some political meetings.

(Artwork by SIXMOREVODKA Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - FIGHTER 1

Making people fight for you is a type of fighting, right? Regardless as a Fighter you get proficiency in two skills from the Fighter list: Acrobatics is good for survival, and Insight is good to know if your slave BFF is starting to harbor resentment for you as the emperor of a nation run by slaves. You also get a Fighting Style at level 1: you need only one hand for your “spear” so Dueling will make that “spear” do more damage.

ABOUT AZIR’S WEAPON (and his Sand Soldiers): Grab a Rapier and a Shield for a DEX-based spear-like weapon... and a shield. This will be your loadout to keep alive as well as the loadout of your Sand Soldiers, which we will get soon.

In addition to survive mid lane you can take the Second Wind rune to heal yourself for a d10 plus your Fighter level as a Bonus Action. Does Azir take Second Wind? Does it look like I know how to play Azir?

LEVEL 2 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters can grab some attack speed with Action Surge, allowing them to take an extra action on their turn for some pro plays!

LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype. Do you wish to harness the echoes of your nation? Then Echo Knight is a very good bet! As an Echo Knight you can Manifest Echo to create a Sand Soldier as a Bonus Action. The Sand Soldier (which is what I’ll be referring to your Echoes as in this build) has the following stats:

AC equal to 14 + your proficiency bonus

1 HP

Immunity to all conditions

The same saving throws as you

The same size as you

The ability to occupy a space

The appearance of a Sand Soldier (so its definitely not human)

You can move your Sand Soldier up to 30 feet without spending an action or bonus action. With your soldier in its location you have the following abilities:

You can “dash” (IE teleport) to your soldier and swap places with it as a bonus action, taking 15 feet of your movement (regardless of how far you “dashed.”)

When you take the attack action it can come from your soldier’s location.

If someone walks past your soldier you can make an attack of opportunity against them as if you were in the soldier’s location!

In a big nutshell the Sand Soldier acts like an extension of you, and can do basically everything you can. And you can take an additional attack from your Soldier’s location after attacking thanks to Unleash Incarnation, which has a limited number of uses equal to your Constitution modifier.

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 4

4th level Fighters get the first of many Ability Score Improvements. Dexterity is tied to most of what we do currently so increasing that by 2 would be beneficial.

LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters can increase their attack speed and make an Extra Attack with their action. This means two attacks in an action, four with Action Surge, and one extra with Unleash Incarnation. All from either your location or the location of your Sand Soldier.

(Artwork by Alex “alexplank” Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - ARTIFICER 1

So I kinda got all I wanted from Fighter? And honestly if you’re playing in a low level campaign investing fully in Echo Knight is a great way to replicate Azir. But I can’t just cop out and say “Echo Knight 20 lol” for a champion like Azir so... Empires are built on invention. As an Artificer you get Magical Tinkering which is like Prestidigitation but bad. You can make an object glow slightly, make sounds, smell nice: all the sort of things that the magic of the Sun Disk provided Shurimans with daily.

But of course what we’re really here for is Spellcasting! You get two cantrips from the Artificer spell list: Prestidigitation proper will let you do better sand magic, and Guidance will help you help yourself to guide your nation.

You can also prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your Artificer level, which means you can prepare three for now:

Absorb Elements will let you soak up some damage from the enemy laner before dishing it back out!

Faerie Fire will let you light up a target for your soldiers (IE yourself) to strike.

And Detect Magic will let you... detect magic...

LEVEL 7 - ARTIFICER 2

Second level Artificers get Infusions; ancient Shuriman artifacts that you acquired from the ruins to serve yourself. (Though you do have to apply them to existing items.)

Enhanced Weapon will let you make your Soldiers do magic damage, as well as yourself!

Grabbing a Repeating Shot weapon (probably a Hand Crossbow) will let you attack at range from both your own location and your Echo’s location.

The Mind Sharpener is kinda uhhh... dumb? But why shouldn’t an emperor be entitled to succeed their Concentration checks?

An Alchemy Jug will let you bring the waters back to Shurima... or potentially mayonnaise.

Additionally you can prepare another spell, and use those chicken feathers of yours to Feather Fall.

LEVEL 8 - ARTIFICER 3

Third level Artificers can make The Right Tool for the Job from the sands with an hour of work, allowing you to create a set of Artisan’s tools (or Thieves’ Tools) for whatever purpose you need. "You cannot topple Shurima."

But come on: we both know we’re here for our subclass. Now what Artificer subclass is capable of summoning artillery... Artillerist might work? Along with gaining Wood Carver’s Tools proficiency you can summon an Eldritch Cannon as an action. The cannon is either small or tiny: a small one occupies its space and is summoned within 5 feet of you, and you can hold a tiny cannon in your hand. You can create one cannon for free per Long Rest, but summoning additional cannons requires a spell slot of first level or higher.

The cannon has an AC of 18 and five times your Artificer level in hitpoints. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage, and has 10 in all stats (for the sake of saving throws.) You can also heal it with Mending... which we don’t have. Oops. It’s almost like Artificers only get 2 cantrips.

Regardless: when you create the cannon you determine its appearance, if it can move, and its type. A Flamethrower turret shoots fire (duh) in a cone, forcing a DEX save to deal fire damage to everyone in the area. A Force Balista turret is like a regular Summoner’s Rift turret, shooting at one target within range to deal a good chunk of damage and push them back slightly. And to shield your army a Protector turret grants temporary hitpoints to everyone in its area of effect. Regardless of what turret you create activating it takes a Bonus Action. You can make the turret move up to 15 feet with that bonus action, and can’t activate the turret if you’re more than 60 feet away.

Additionally you get Shield and Thunderwave as Artillerist Spells, to protect yourself or deal some damage.

LEVEL 9 - ARTIFICER 4

4th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement. Generally speaking packing Flash is a good idea, so we’ll be grabbing the Fey Touched feat to increase our Intelligence by 1 and get the Misty Step spell added to our spell list (even if we don’t have second level spell slots yet.)

You can also add a Divination or Enchantment spell to your list as well and I’m going to recommend Hex to further increase your damage to whatever target you focus with your soldiers. You can cast both Misty Step and Hex once per Long Rest without using a spell slot, and can cast the spell more times by using the respective spell slot. Speaking of spells you would be able to prepare more of them but I’m going to wait for...

LEVEL 10 - ARTIFICER 5

5th level Artificers can turn a staff (or a wand or a rod, but realistically you’d use a staff) into an Arcane Firearm. When casting Artificer spells through the Arcane Firearm you gain a d8 bonus to one damage roll of the spell...

I’m going to be honest: you’re primarily a Fighter, and especially if you walk around with both a Shield and a Rapier Spear you probably won’t have a free hand for the Arcane Firearm anyways. Talk to your DM to see if they’ll let you add a d8 to your spells anyways. And if not? ...Nothing much lost by ignoring it.

But 5th level Artificers also get second level spell slots which means that they can prepare second level spells! You get both Scorching Ray and Shatter as Artillerist Spells, and can prepare Aid to boost your army for battle!

(Artwork by Zuoan Dong and Kudos Productions. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 6

6th level Artificers get Tool Expertise, which is exactly what it sounds like: double your proficiency with tool checks. But more importantly you get more infusions such as the Spell-Refueling Ring to actually be a Mage, and a Repulsion Shield to recreate the push from Emperor's Divide and further break your AC.

You can also prepare another spell like Enhance Ability, so your subjects can build up your civilization! ...But not slaves, obviously.

LEVEL 12 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level emperors can direct their soldiers as a reaction with a Flash of Genius, letting you boost one of their Ability Checks or Saving Throws by an amount equal to your Intelligence modifier. The ability has a limited number of uses but both its number of uses and its total strength increases with your Intelligence modifier. Speaking of which...

LEVEL 13 - ARTIFICER 8

An Ability Score Improvement means we can finally round out that uneven Intelligence score, as well as your uneven Constitution. Nice round number will help you rule over yourself, which will make it easier to rule over a nation.

More Intelligence does also mean more prepared spells, but you’ll have to be patient for...

LEVEL 14 - ARTIFICER 9

9th level Artillerists can make their turret Self Destruct, as the Explosive Cannon causes each creature within 20 feet of it to make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 force damage as the tower self-destructs, only taking half on a success. In addition your turrets deal an extra d8 of damage, or Temp HP shielding if you swing that way.

But to top it off you learn third level spells now! Wind Wall from the Artillerist Spells list will actually serve as Emperor's Divide, since while it does work like Yasuo’s Wind Wall it also pushes people back and stops them from going through it (to an extent.) As for Fireball well... it’s Fireball! Not everything needs to be justified.

Other than that you can prepare Haste to truly go to war (as long as you’re fine with leaving yourself vulnerable if you lose spell focus), and Create Food and Water to... create food and water. A great emperor must care for his people, especially his best friend.

(Artwork by Pang Chengwei. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - FIGHTER 6

Hey Ability Score Improvements are fun! Dexterity is still kinda our “main” stat, since it’s used both for attacking and AC. So increasing DEX by 2 would be the best plan of action!

LEVEL 16 - FIGHTER 7

7th level Echo Knights see everything on their sands thanks to Echo Avatar. As an action you can see through your Sand Soldier, to direct them through espionage. You yourself can not see or hear during this time, and you can end this effect at any time as an action.

While spying through your sand soldier, it can be up to 1000 feet away from you without being destroyed. This does mean that you can swap places with it to get somewhere up to 1000 feet away!

LEVEL 17 - FIGHTER 8

Fighters are fun because while they get they get Ability Score Improvements in some of the places where other classes don’t they still get the standard ASIs at the standard levels. Cap off your Intelligence to have the best of both magic damage and attack speed!

(Artwork by SIXMOREVODKA Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - FIGHTER 9

9th level Fighters can survive with Ascended strength, as Indomitable lets them reroll one failed Saving Throw per Long Rest. You can still fail however so I’d perhaps only use this on the skills you have a good chance of succeeding in; even the Ascended have their limits.

LEVEL 19 - FIGHTER 10

At level 10 your Sand Soldiers will always be there to defend you, as Shadow Martyr allows your soldiers to defend an ally you can see with your reaction. Your soldier moves within 5 feet of the ally, and the attack is directed towards your soldier instead of your ally. "Nothing is beyond my reach."

LEVEL 20 - FIGHTER 11

Our final level is the 11th level of Fighter for another Extra Attack, resulting in three attacks total or six with Action Surge! Finally six-slotted for max Attack Speed!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Soldiers, onward! - You can deal tons of damage without ever getting close to the danger between your Sand Soldiers and your cannon, both of which can do the fighting for you as you stay back and direct their attacks.

Challenge Shurima; challenge fate - You also have plenty of utility in both your magic and your soldiers, notably an extreme level of mobility to escape if anyone does actually try to kill you. And in a worse case scenario your infusions can provide you with even more tools to rebuild your empire.

Emperors never die - It was not my intention but... Hey turns out that Fighter and Artificer are both very good at keeping themselves alive. Above average HP, strong saving throws (proficiency in the saves for your low stats help a lot!), and notably some damn high AC by walking around with a spear and shield. 19 AC with Studded Leather and a Shield which can be further increased with infusions.

CONS

My empire lives in every grain of sand - It takes quite awhile to prepare everything for combat. An action to summon your cannon, a bonus action to summon your echo, and then a Bonus Action every turn as long as you have your cannon up.

I will shift as the sands - A general you may be but a scholar you are not. With the exception of Acrobatics and History your skill checks are generally poor, and your ability scores overall leave a lot to be desired. Sure +5 to Religion or Arcana is nice but it’s not going to shatter the sun.

The bounty of Shurima still flows - One thing an emperor must manage is the resources of their kingdom, and you have plenty of limited tools that only come back after Long Rests. Some of them (mostly your Fighter stuff) come back on a Short Rest yes but you have limited spell slots, cannons, Flashes of Genius to protect your allies, and only one use of Indominable per Long Rest. Ration yourself wisely.

But an empire is built upon sacrifice. Conqueror with your soldiers before rebuilding. A nation as great as Shurima can not truly remain gone. But perhaps this time you should pay your workers? Especially if your best friend is the head of the union.

(Artwork by SIXMOREVODKA Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #League of Legends Azir #SHURIMA #WILL #RISE #dnd fighter #dnd artificer #egypt #gods of egypt #ancient egypt

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good-rwbyaus · 4 years ago

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Be Careful Who You Blackmail pt. 1 / 2. | #Criminal Minds RWBY AU | mod lilac

AU Description: Based on n3b1r1us's AU Prompt where Jaune's plans usually consist of crimes. Also, Ren is the sole voice of reason because the rest of team JNPR are filthy enablers.

Cardin blackmails the wrong person. Story’s written in Cardin’s POV.

previous piece in this AU :: The Voice of Reason

Uggh. His head. Why’d it feel like he got hit with a sledgehammer or that all the blood in his body was rushing to his head? Did he fall out of bed or somethi-

Wait. Something’s wrong. It’s too windy. Wasn’t he sleeping in his tent earlier? Why was he outsi-

Cardin startled as he opened his eyes, the world upside-down as he dangled from a tree branch. Even worse was that the tree branch he was hanging from happened to be jutting past a cliffside, and underneath him was the forest of Forever Fall, cloaked in the shadow of night.

The alarming thing was that, underneath the ropes tying him like a hog, he was clad only in his boxers. No weapons, no armor, just him and the very real dangers of Remnant. Seriously, he needed to get out of here and find his way back before the Gri-

“Grrrrrrggr.”

His gaze turned directly downwards and met a pair of glowing red eyes. His throat dried up as a large vague outline peeked out of the treeline, a stalwart figure that only meant one thing in these parts.

The Grimm. An Ursa.

“Shit!” he couldn’t help but yell when the Ursa rose on its hindlegs, its attention clearly on him. Wiggling and flailing like a worm, he screamed to anyone that would listen, “Somebody. Anybody! Help!”

“You know if you keep screaming and moving, I might not be able to keep hanging onto this rope,” spoke a familiar voice.

Wasn’t that....

With dawning horror, Cardin lifted his gaze from the Ursa and spotted the last person he expected to see on the cliff. Peeking out from behind the tree he was tied to, Jaune waved his hand jauntily while holding his lifeline in his hand.

No way. Jaune didn’t have the guts to do what he was threatening. This was after all Jaune, a doormat shaped like a person. Didn’t voice a complaint despite the humiliating things he’s requested Jaune to do in exchange for not telling Ozpin about the blond’s faked transcripts. Hell, even during this trip, he was always scurrying away and hiding in the most random places in Forever Fall just to avoid him. A clear bluff.

Cardin gritted his teeth in anger and sent a sneer towards his fellow classmate.

"Jaune! When I get out of these ropes, I’m going t- AHHH!" Gravity suddenly took hold of his body, the ground closing extremely fast. His eyes closed shut as his screams rang through the night.

“Hurk.” A sudden resistance took hold as the rope around his feet pulled taut.

Realizing he’d been given a momentary reprieve, Cardin opened his eyes once more and found the Ursa was a lot closer than he’d like. Its claws groped skywards trying to reach the tasty morsel just dangling out of its reach. A warbling discontent growl echoed from its maw as he felt himself being pulled upward towards the cliff edge and met the face of his tormentor once more.

"I was really patient, you know. Ren said that bullies go away if you don't give them a reaction,” Jaune explained as he kneeled down to meet him eye-to-eye, the same innocent smile still plastered on - as if the blond hadn’t tried to send him to his death seconds earlier. "And well you just didn’t go away. So you thought to blackmail me instead.” The blond began unfurling the rope in his grip, Cardin belatedly realizing what his classmate was going to do again.

“STO-!”

He felt another jolt as he descended the cliff in freefall, screaming. Only when he felt the rope pull taut against his legs did he have the courage to open his eyes once again. He wish he hadn’t. He saw the metallic glint of the Ursa’s claws sail right past his nose, the wind of its swipes beating upon his face. He was so close to the abomination that he could smell it, a disgusting cloying mix of sugary syrup and iron. And within its eyes, he could see his brutal death reflected in its crimson hues. Even with Aura, you don’t survive an Ursa, even a Minor, without weapons and armor. "Stop lowering me Jaune! Pull me up! Pull me up! If you don’t, I’m going to-!”

What was his stupid mouth about to say?! Threatening Jaune at this point? When Jaune was already willing to go this far?!

“Jaune! Come on. We can talk it out! You know you can’t get away with this. I won’t say anything if you just st-"

"Oh. I am going to get away with this; I just haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Jaune grinned. “You know, I nearly died several times trying to find the most obscure places to hide, knowing that you and your team were looking for me, even after off hours." The blond rubbed his jaw with his free hand. “I even remember taking a couple punches for inconveniencing you too.”

The insane boy moved his hand away from his chin and snapped his fingers. “But now team CRDL has the reputation of being reckless explorers, breaking the rules to explore deeper into dangerous areas. Such a gunner, you. Even going out at night to prove your worth.” The blond sniffled a few times, hand wiping a fake tear, as if he were a proud parent watching his kid get an award.

“Not a bad result from a game of hide and seek, right?” the blond looked straight at him, grinning.

How- Him chasing Jaune through Forever Fall was part of Jaune’s plans? How many steps was Jaune thinking ahead? How long was he planning all this behind his back? How deep was he in the other boy’s schemes?! He’d always thought it a joke when people said Jaune was a brilliant tactician, but....

Cardin shivered as he felt himself being slowly pulled upwards towards the cliff again. His blood turned cold upon seeing the expression that met him, Jaune looking like the very cat that’s found a mouse to 'play’ with. He wanted to say something more to Jaune, but the fear that he’d say the wrong thing and be sent plunging to his death stayed his tongue.

“And well, as for me getting away with this...”

Jaune opened up a Scroll and revealed a screen displaying a live recording dot and a familiar blond figure talking to the rest of team JNPR at the campfire.

Cardin could only stare at the Scroll in horror.

"How?”

“You don’t have to ask where I got the body double. In any case when morning comes and roll call happens, everything’s going to think Cardin Winchester bit more than he can chew and never came back,” Jaune said solemnly. “Your team...well, your team will go on an ill-advised journey to avenge you and then disappear forever into the depths of Forever Fall. No one will ever find the bodies.”

The blond held his chest with his free hand and closed his eyes, momentarily silent.

“I’m sure Beacon Academy will provide your families the appropriate remuneration.”

This lunatic's going to kill him. And he’s not going to let off the rest of his team. His heart pounded like a jackhammer. Jaune’s seriously trying to kill him. This isn’t a joke. He’s going to die. He doesn’t want to die. No-

“Look Jaune. Jaune. Buddy. Friend. I wasn’t really going to tell Ozpin. Really. It-was-a-joke. And-”

“Yeah about that, I'll admit those forgeries weren’t my greatest work,” Jaune scratched his chin in bemusement. “They look good at first glance and even at second glance, but well it was my first time, and I might’ve overdone it when I realized it might give me a chance to meet my idol.”

“But there’s no good excuses for poor work, and I really have a reputation to keep,” Jaune stated sincerely before looking at him straight in the eyes, expression as serious as death.

This didn’t seem quite right. Wasn’t Jaune scared about being expelled from Beacon? When did this becom-

Jaune must’ve seen the surprise in his eyes because the blond laughed.

“Oh. You were thinking Professor Ozpin would expel me for something like a fake transcript?” Jaune laughed, “After I made it this far? After showing I can learn and become a great tactician and leader? When there’s students from Beacon who’ve never been to any sort of combat academy at all? As far as I’m concerned...”

“He’d probably give me extra credit if he knew,” Jaune bared a toothy grin. “Cardin, the only reasons why I let you blackmail me was because I didn’t need to be known as someone who did shoddy work and that I didn’t want my peers thinking I cheated the system to get in. Even if I totally did.”

“Wow. What a funny misunderstanding. But... well now we’re here, “ Jaune shrugged, “Though one of us won’t be shortly.”

His heart skipped a beat, alarm bells ringing in his head. His breath turned unsteady as he tried not to succumb to the growing panic and horror; he thought he had Jaune figured out, only to find he’d been provoking a complete psychopath all along.

“Look. Jaune. I won’t say anything at all. I won’t bother you ever again. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll clean your clothes. I’ll clean your team’s clothes. I’ll pay y-”

“Your offer sounds really good,” Jaune held a hand up as he interrupted, “but I’m the type to get rid of trouble before it festers. I mean, if I get rid of you and your team now, I don’t have to worry about having my reputation smeared in the future. Don’t worry, Cardin. I’ll make sure you have company.” The blond began unwinding the rope from his arm again, “Bye Card-”

“NO! Please! I don’t wanna die. My mom and dad are waiting for me back home. Ihaven’tmade a name for myself. Please! Idonwanttodieireallywanttolive. illwalkyourdog. ill make pancak-” The incoherent blabbling wasn’t something he could help, the words forming faster in his head than his mouth could say them. The tears and nose dripped down his face and forehead as he tried everything to appease this demon from hell. Pride - who needed pride at this point - just as long as he could stay alive!

As he babbled continuously, the blond boy just hummed as if considering his words.

“illbeatupwhoeveryouwant. illbeyourlackey. illfetchyouyourlocker. please don’t kill m-”

“Hmmm,” Jaune tilted his head, “Okay.”

“and I’ll- Huh?” He couldn’t help but drop his jaw in surprise, his brain screeching to a halt at that simple single utterance. After all this talk about killing him, was- was Jaune seriously going to let him go?

“Oh, you’d rather the Ursa have you? Well if that’s the cas-

“No!”

The blond smirked in amusement.

“Alright. I’ll let you go for now. But remember, if you speak a word about this or the other thing to anyone else...”

“I won’t. I swear. I’ll-” He was definitely going to stay far away from the clearly unstable blond if he could help it. No one can pay him enough t-

“Just remember, I can get to you at any time. It might be eaten by an Ursa today,” Jaune whimsically said, “It could be maimed by a disgruntled bunny-eared Faunus tomorrow. Well. Good night.”

“Good nigh-? Urgkurguurugurg.”

His body spasmed uncontrollably as something struck into the back of his neck. And then he knew no more.

#criminal minds RWBY AU #jaune arc #rwby au #cardin winchester #and no not Neo #rwby fanfic #mod lilac

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redrobinrising · 4 years ago

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FC: Logan Lerman

DOSSIER

Full Name: Timothy Jackson Drake [Identity Status: SECRET]

Alias: “Red Robin”

Affiliation: Batfamily, Nomads

Age: 21

Species: Human

Height: 5′6″

Weight: 125lbs

SIGNED THE ACCORDS: NO

LAST KNOWN LOCATION: UNKNOWN

NOTABLE TRAITS:

Clever - A genius among geniuses, Tim is smart, witty, and possessed of a cold intellect he knows when and how to use efficiently and effectively. He’s not the smartest man to ever live, but he sure does know how to make it seem that way. Tim rises above and beyond with an impressive knowledge of technological systems and gadgetry that is not easily rivaled. He is a cunning strategist and tactician both on and off the field.

Practical - A pragmatic and sensible person who tempers his logic with enough empathy and understanding to round him out nicely. He’s not one for flashy moves or dazzling displays of prowess, and tends to utilize his skills in a much more practical manner by dedicating himself to detective work. He carries just enough gear on his person to make sense and help him get by, but isn’t afraid to go a little overboard if he knows what to prepare for.

Conscientious - Tim puts time and effort into his work. Details are his specialty, diligence his one of his strengths, and his thoughtfulness has saved his life on numerous occasions. It’s always wise to let Tim look things over before they’re approved.

---

Perfectionist - Tim works hard to get the best or most accurate results, but this can become time consuming, draining, and terribly unhealthy. It gives him a good name, but getting trapped in a loop in pursuit of perfection often - and very easily - leads to...

Obsessive - Becoming locked into one case and combing through it with a fine toothed comb is one thing. Obsessing to the point that all else ceases to exist is quite another, and it is very difficult to break him out of these ruts. His social life suffers due to this, and has made him somewhat of an introvert, albeit entirely unintentionally.

Paranoid - Bruce left a mark that’s not easy to scrub off. Like his mentor, Tim often thinks ahead, and this isn’t always a good thing. He is welcoming but wary of newcomers, concerns himself with endless possibilities, and is slow to build genuine trust. As such, he is often prone to vetting anyone and everyone he can before associating.

KNOWN ABILITIES:

Martial artist - Tim is trained in the likes of T’ai Chi, Kung Fu, and Aikido. Although not on the levels of his predecessors, Tim is more than capable of holding his own in a fight. His training allows him to recognize and counter the fighting styles of his opponents, although this does not always guarantee a win.

Prefers the use of a bo staff in most engagements, and can be a devastating opponent when properly prepared.

Investigative brilliance - A high tier detective in his own right who is used to working on limited information and evidence. He has years of bizarre cases and impossibly odds under his belt

Multilingual - Speaks a number of languages, such as Cantonese, German, and Russian. Picks up languages rather quickly through immersion.

Tech and Gadgetry - Capable of manipulating a variety of tech as well as inventing his own for his use and the use of his allies. Skilled at hacking and programming.

WEAKNESSES:

- Tim is 100% unaltered human. He is not enhanced. A bullet, knife, or a long fall can kill him easily. While he wears enough body armor to prevent the first two, even armor has its loopholes and weaknesses.

- While well trained, Tim lacks the natural skill of many others. He must work harder to maintain his physique and skills. Luckily, muscle memory is enough to fill in the gaps. Sometimes.

- Can occasionally be absent minded and tunnel-visioned when working on a project.

- Missing an entire spleen. The whole thing. As such, he must be on constant alert in a fight or risk severe injury and the subsequent infections. Base-wide illnesses are also a matter to be concerned with, but Tim is usually prepared for such happenings.

OTHER (headcanon):

1. Chronic insomniac. This can be used to his advantage, but usually, it isn’t. His acuity and performance rarely suffer after a few days of little to no sleep, but the long term effects of this are still unknown and could have consequences later down the line. He can be seen with dark circles under his eyes on particularly rough days.

2. Bad sci fi movies are his guilty pleasure. The worse they are, the better. He has an impressive catalogue of these for anyone interested. Of course, he rarely has the time for them. When a bit of leisure time does present itself, he mentally flips a coin to decide whether the time is worth missing out on more important work.

3. Somewhat anxious. He keeps a tight lid on this to the point that it’s barely noticeable, but a hard day is a hard day and eventually it builds up. Performance anxiety seems to get him the most; he worked hard to get to where he is, but one mistake could topple that in seconds.

4. Owns four misplaced stress balls. Uses none because they’re missing. Mourns their loss, because they’d be awfully useful now.

#bio

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grailfinders · 3 years ago

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Fate and Phantasms #239

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're playing with fire and getting burned as the god of love and star of @haskamadoneanythingwrong, Kama! She's a Love Cleric to slip something into just about everyone's drink, and an Echo Knight Fighter to call her friends to the party. And by friends I mean extra copies of herself.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: What is up with Chinese tacticians possessing weirdly named English mages? It's not just me, right? That's weird.

Race and Background

Normally we make gods Aasimar here, but you clearly don't have resistance to radiant damage, and there isn't really a race for piles of ash, so we're going Custom Lineage instead. Plus, this way you can choose to be small or medium as you want, pick your own ascension. You still get your Darkvision, and on top of that you pick up an Aberrant Dragonmark, so you can learn one sorcerer cantrip and one first level spell, which you can cast once without a spell slot. (Both use your Constitution). Also, when you cast the spell you can spend a hit die to either deal damage or heal yourself a bit more. We get Friends for better charming and Mage Armor since you really don't wear much armor. There's also stuff that happens at higher levels but that's entirely DM dependent, so it's not my purview.

Turns out dying and being brought back is pretty traumatic, which might explain why you're a Haunted One. This means you get proficiency in Arcana and Survival. Getting atomized and not dying takes a lot of skill.

Ability Scores

We're starting off with your Dexterity being really high. Bows need it, and you need it to get away with wearing that on the battlefield. Your Wisdom is next. That comes from pain, and dear god have you been through pain. Your Charisma is also pretty high, comes with the whole "charming people" thing. Your Constitution is middling. You survived getting turned to ash, but that also made you ash, so... Your Intelligence is neutral. Like all villains, you somehow decided to piss of Chaldea right at the last moment they had to thwart you plans- not very smart of you. Finally, dump Strength. You literally have no muscles. That's not hyperbole, they've all been turned to ash.

Class Levels

Cleric 1: Starting off as a cleric makes you proficient in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as the Religion and Persuasion skills. You can butter people up real good, and you're literally a god. Not much else to say here. You also learn how to cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom. Since you can change your spells every long rest we won't harp too much on which spells to get, but we might bring up particularly fitting spells, alongside your subclass specific spells. Speaking of subclasses, yours is... unusual. Officially, the Love cleric was burned from the record ages ago, only clinging on to existence in the barest sense. Sound familiar? The subclass never even got an official UA release, being rebranded as the Unity and then Peace cleric first. But the OG flavor has enough differences that I feel bringing this one back will fit Kama better. Your first level feature isn't too different, it's still Emboldening Bond. As an action, you can bond together two creatures standing within 30' (including yourself). As long as the bonded creatures are within 30' of each other, they can add a d4 to their attacks, checks, and saves once per turn. It lasts for 1 hour, and you can make a bond once per long rest, or by spending a spell slot. Speaking of spells, pick up the cantrips Guidance and Resistance to guide yourself and resist attackers. You can also use Thaumaturgy to act like the god you are. Your subclass spells are Charm Person and Heroism. The former is self-explanatory: force a wisdom save on a person, and if they fail they're charmed. The latter makes a creature immune to being frightened, and each turn they gain temporary HP. For some other spells to check out: Command commands people to do stuff. Cure wounds is kind of like vampirism if you use it after hurting people, and Shield of Faith adds +2 to your AC for a little bit. Having an armorless AC of 17 at level one is pretty good for a caster.

Cleric 2: The second level of love cleric is where things get... funky. Once per short rest you can Channel Divinity as an action. You can Turn Undead as usual, forcing a wisdom save to make them run away, or you can cause Impulsive Infatuation, forcing a wisdom save on a creature within 30' of you. If they succeed, nothing happens. If they fail, they become charmed for a round, and they have to use their reaction to attack a creature of your choosing. Charming is so much stronger in D&D than FGO. You can also Harness Divine Power, burning Channel Divinity uses to regain spell slots. You can do this a number of times per day equal to the number of CD uses you get each short rest.

Cleric 3: Third level clerics get second level spells, like Enthrall and Warding Bond. The former is very in character, the latter not so much. If you're tired of waiting for the fighter levels to get here, you can also use Spiritual Weapon to make a magic bow and attack people. (It's still a melee weapon, but we can flavor it.) You can also Hold Person for a more FGO-ish charm effect.

Fighter 1: Bouncing over to Fighter makes you good with bows, but you can get even better by taking the Archery fighting style, adding +2 to your ranged weapon attacks. You can also activate a Second Wind as a bonus action. Again, hit someone with your action and use this afterwards for kindasorta vampirism.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters can make an Action Surge once per short rest, adding an extra action to your turn. Yo dawg, I heard you like charming. Now you can charm while you charm.

Fighter 3: At third level of fighter you finally become an Echo Knight, letting you Manifest Echo as a bonus action. This creates a copy of yourself (that counts as an object) near you, and you can attack/ take opportunity attacks through that echo. It's only got 1 HP and dies instantly if it gets too far away, but you can always make another. While it's active, you can spend half your movement to teleport yourself to its location, swapping places with it. You can also Release Incarnation once per, making an extra melee attack with the echo the same action you make a regular attack.

Cleric 4: Okay, that's all the fighter levels we can stand. Back in cleric, you're getting your first Ability Score Improvement, which we're using to pick up the Skill Expert feat. You get proficiency in Deception and Expertise (doubled proficiency) in Persuasion. We can't spare an ASI just for charisma, but this'll help you chat with the best of 'em. You can also Toll the Dead now, since there aren't many cantrips I really want here.

Cleric 5: Fifth level clerics can Destroy Undead, instantly killing undead of CR 1/2 or lower who fail their save. You can also cast third level spells like Beacon of Hope and Hypnotic Pattern. The first really isn't your thing (I mean c'mon, making it harder to get charmed? Eugh.) but the second is way more up your alley. If you want to do more damage, pick up Bestow Curse to do just about anything as long as your DM signs off on it. Or you can use Spirit Guardians or Spirit Shroud to summon more copies of yourself.

Cleric 6: Sixth level clerics get a second use of Channel Divinity per short rest, and you can create a Protective Bond. While the creatures bonded with Emboldening Bond are near each other, they can spend their reaction to give resistance to all damage to the other creature this turn.

Cleric 7: Seventh level clerics get fourth level spells. Aura of Purity is super not in character (again, making it harder to get charmed??), but you can probably flavor Confusion as getting people drunk if you want to. Also check out Banishment to throw people into the Ooku, and Death Ward to give yourself guts.

Cleric 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Wisdom for stronger charms and CD saves. Speaking of, Destroy Undead hits CR 1 creatures now. You can also use your Blessed Strikes to add 1d8 radiant damage to a weapon or cantrip attack once per round.

Cleric 9: Ninth level clerics get fifth level spells, and hoo boy do you like a lot of these. (Turns out literal gods have high-level stuff.) You can use Greater Restoration to make yourself more godlike and unsmirched, or Hold Monster to infatuate any kind of creature, not just humanoids. You can also use Contagion to weaken the resolve of any creature. If they fail three constitution saves at the start of their turn they'll fall under a chosen disease's effect for the duration, up to a week. Each one gives disadvantage to a different stat's checks and saves, with added benefits. I'd suggest using the soft stat ones to simulate the stupid that comes with falling in love. The Intelligence disease also puts the target under the effects of confusion, the Wisdom disease blinds them, and the Charisma disease comes with vulnerability to all damage. (This one's actually really good for bosses if their constitution isn't great, since it'll eat up all their legendary resistances. You can also use Geas for a more straightforward brainwashing, Holy Weapon for a shinier bow, or Flame Strike to trick Shiva into trying to roast you again.

Cleric 10: Tenth level clerics can use Divine Intervention to get just about anything done with the help of their god. There's a 10% chance of it actually working, but if it doesn't you can just try again tomorrow. If it does work you have to wait a week, but at least you get godly powers on your side. And besides, something tells me you'll be sympathetic to your needs. You can also cast Light if you want a shiny bow but don't want to cast a fifth level spell.

Cleric 11: At eleventh level your Destroy Undead bumps up again, and you can cast sixth level spells! Otherworldly Form is the version from the UA, but tbf Kama's already lacking in physicality so we'll take what we can get. You become immune to fire and poison damage, can't be poisoned, can fly, get a +2 to AC, can attack twice per action, and your attacks are magical, dealing damage and aiming through your Wisdom instead of anything else. Otherwise, use Harm to harm things. This forces a constitution save to halve the incoming damage, and if they fail the save their HP is reduced by that same amount.

Cleric 12: Max out your Wisdom this ASI for better spells, saves, and I guess even arrows now.

Cleric 13: Thirteenth level clerics can cast seventh level spells. Banishment only throws someone in the Ooku for a minute, now you can use Plane Shift to leave them there permanently! You can also Regenerate missing limbs (or entire bodies, I guess), and create a Temple to the Gods. Or one god in particular, I don't think you're on good terms with most of the pantheon.

Cleric 14: Destroy Undead hits CR 3 creatures now. It ain't much, but it's honest work.

Cleric 15: We don't want that many eighth level spells, but Holy Aura is okay. Creatures within 30' of you that you choose glow and have advantage on all saves, and other creatures get disadvantage to attack them. If a fiend or undead hits those creatures anyway, they have to make a constitution save or be blinded.

Cleric 16: Use your last ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC and better archery usually.

Cleric 17: Your ultimate level unlocks your ultimate spells, like using Astral Projection to mess with people without ever getting near them, or Gate to create doorways to the Ooku wherever you want to put them. Destroy Undead hits CR 4 creatures now, and your bonds create Enduring Unity, spreading the range or your bonds to the entire plane the creatures are in. Also, if either bonded creature drops to 0 HP, the other gets a bunch of extra effects for a minute, or until the other creature has positive HP again. They get advantage on all attacks, checks, and saves, resistance to all damage, and can spend an action to use their hit dice on the downed partner. So bond with a rat, konk it on the head at the start of combat, and turn into a god. Rinse and repeat for every fight ever. I can see why this class never got a proper release now.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

With a maxed out spellcasting stat and expertise in persuasion, you're really good at getting people to like you. Let other people do the dirty work for you, you've got an Ooku to run.

You're also surprisingly hard to hit, with a base AC of 16 that can get all the way up to 20 with divine shield and otherworldly form. On top of that, you can force disadvantage with Holy Aura, and block the damage that gets through with your protective bond.

Speaking of, bonding in this version is pretty good at high levels, making you a terror if you survive long enough to abuse that enduring unity.

Cons:

The love cleric technically does not exist in D&D since it never saw an official release, so you might have more trouble than usual convincing your DM to let you use it.

If an enemy can cut through your bullshit you're really easy to take down thanks to barely having over 100 HP. That means there's a pretty good chance you might get disintegrated... again.

Having only one attack per round really hurts you ability to be a damage dealer, even with stuff like Blessed Strikes and Holy Weapon. It might be a good idea to just stick with messing with people's hearts.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Kamadeva #cleric #fighter

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pathogenic · 4 years ago

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Chapter 2: The Prophet

Shorter than Chapter 1, but let’s fucking goooooo

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Necromancer

Chapter 2: The Prophet

Chapter 3: The Hag

Chapter 4: The Brigand Vvulf

Chapter 5: The Brigand’s Cannon

Chapter 6: The Drowned Crew

Chapter 7: The Siren

Chapter 8: The Swine God

Chapter 9: The Formless Flesh

Chapter 10: The Ancestor

Epilogue

Be weary, there is a violent death here.

Our frontline fighters still needed time to recover as they were just as badly burned as I had feared. I knew Reynauld would be fine. He was a young and healthy man and was capable of recovering quickly, but I had to admit that I was worried if Baldwin would come out the other side of this. Burns on top of his condition was a recipe for disaster, but I should not have doubted him. His will is the strongest I have seen in any man and I had to wonder if he was even human.

Still, I did not feel it was right to send them out to battle just yet. I would rather allow them to rest before I ask them to put their lives on the line again. Besides, it seems that until then, they’ve picked up things to do around the Hamlet to keep their mind off of the stress. Some may be a little less than honorable, such as Dismas and Reynauld’s less than honest gambling, but Julia, Baldwin, and Paracelsus have been seen around the Hamlet either aiding repairs or offering service to the townsfolk to help them. It warmed my heart to see the town starting to recover and heal from the tragedies they have seen.

With them out, however, I have been forced to keep a look out for more heroes to aid our quest. One came to us late in the evening. He said his name is Alhazred and that he is an esteemed professor from a distant University. Further research indicated this to be true, but I was not overly familiar with his studies as I never truly even touched occult studies before I arrived at the Hamlet. After our adventures against the Necromancer, however, how could I turn him down? He would know far more on the topic of the arcane and the supernatural than I ever would. The fact that he was capable of combat despite his frail appearance was just another point in his favor.

Once he was hired, he set upon his work, requesting access to the library that my Ancestor had made. I granted this, but I told him there wasn’t much to see that I was aware of. He was understandably disappointed, but still, he has been there every day I have not called upon him, diligently working away. I also managed to get the old books from the dungeon pulled and brought to him. He seemed more satisfied with those, despite being as damaged as they are.

Alhazred was not the only person to arrive to my Hamlet, however. A brash woman who announced herself as Boudica came in one day and loudly challenged Reynauld. He, thankfully, refused, but an older gentleman that had arrived earlier that day that I had not had the chance to meet with just yet. Reynauld told me that the fight was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The man Boudica had challenged is an old war veteran by the name of Barristan, so it was a battle of old knowledge versus young wit. Boudica came out on top, but just barely. Despite blowing through a table (which they mercifully paid for), I allowed both of them to serve the Hamlet. I admit that I was hesitant with Boudica, being as young and brash as she is, however a conversation with her laid my fears to rest. Despite her behavior, it appears she had nowhere else to go and genuinely wished to help. Perhaps she hoped her earn her keep into the Hamlet, and I found it heartless to say no.

With a new crew assembled of Barristan, Boudica, Julia, and Alhazred, we headed for the dungeons once again with the intent of making sure there was nothing undead left behind within them. As we ventured deeper, we did find some more of the cultists. However, since I did not see anymore moving skeletons, I think it is safe to assume that while they do have some dark arcane powers are their beck and call, they are not capable of Necromancy. The idea brought me some peace.

We traveled beyond the chamber we fought the Necromancer and his minions in and found some undead shambling further within, but with no master they were disorganized and disorientated. I was fooled into thinking this was going to be a simple task as we cut through their ranks. By the time we reached the last door that we left unopened in the dungeons, I had put the prophet out of my mind. What a mistake that was.

I opened the doors to a grimy old man sitting upon the floor. His head and one hand were firmly locked inside a stockade. His other was free and was closed in front of him in a gentle fist. I came to the conclusion that he must have been holding something fragile, but at the same time he did not want the world to see what he was holding. When we entered, he lifted his head. There were old wraps that draped from his head and over his eyes. There was blood over where his eyes were, and I had a sinking feeling about what he was holding.

For a moment, his expression was blank before there was a look of contempt on his face. He asked if I knew what I had done the moment I set foot in the Hamlet. I had to admit, I did not know how to respond to such a question and begged for his pardon. This did not seem to be the answer he wanted as he pushed himself onto his sinewy legs. I asked for him to explain further since I was uncertain as to what he was talking about. This irritated the man and he flew into a tirade about how he tried to warn my Ancestor once, but “look what happened now”. He even claimed that short-sightedness must run in my family for me to arrive here.

Then all of a sudden, his rant was done before he gave a sigh. A smile crept upon his face. He claimed that he “would end the cycle”, though at the time, I had no clue what this meant. All I know is that he held out his free hand and exposed his two gouged eyes to us. He claimed that he could see the ceiling of the dungeon caving in and would cause grievous injury. I was about to speak once more when I suddenly felt Barristan rush and grab me. He pulled me close and held his shield over our heads as a boulder collided. I could hear him cry out in pain from the weight, but we were alive.

Julia, on the other hand, was crushed under the weight as Boudica could do nothing but move out of the way before it got the both of them. The sound of her body breaking is not one I would forget anytime soon.

I admit I did not pay much attention to the battle from there as I was so shaken by the death of Julia to notice much. I had experienced loss prior to this, but never something so sudden and violent. I can’t say I know of anyone who was able to process the first time they saw someone die like this. The idea that perhaps I could have done something to protect her played in my mind on a loop despite the fact that I know it was not something I could have prepared for. How could I have known the Prophet had such terrifying abilities?

What I do know is that eventually there was a hand upon my shoulder. Barristan pulled me away from the side of the boulder, away from what I could see of Julia’s body. I looked over and saw the corpse of the Prophet laid open, wondering when the world had moved on without me. He never took his hand off of me as he helped me out, leading me back towards the Hamlet. No one said much of anything during that trip back.

It took me a few days to truly process what had happened. We eventually sent in Reynauld, Boudica, Dismas, and Barristan in to fetch what they could of Julia’s body. Her grave now is by the Abby that she tried her best to tend to. Reynauld picked up that duty in her stead.

As for me, I attended the service, and then I found Barristan and Reynauld and made a request of them. I do not want to leave the heroes I have employed on their own. I plan to travel with them as often as I can as it is my duty to ensure the corruption here in the Hamlet is driven out. I did not want to be dead weight to them any longer. I asked for them to teach me how to use a blade and how to be a tactician. They seemed to understand why I was asking this of them and agreed to my requests.

In the following weeks, Barristan taught me the basics of planning ahead for these types of battles. He taught me how to think about formations, weighing out our fighter’s strengths and weaknesses, and how to read the enemy. Reynauld drilled me in the ways of a sword and helped me be fitted for some basic armor so I would be less of a liability.

While I know that what happened to Julia was not the result of me being inept as a fighter, it did bring me some comfort to know that no one else would die because I couldn’t even raise a blade to defend myself. I suppose a way, it was me trying to do better for everyone in the Hamlet.

#Darkest Dungeon

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notasiren21 · 5 years ago

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The Darkness Comforts Me More (Ch. 1)

(Female Byleth x Felix)

*My version of Byleth is a bit different to fit certain upcoming aspects of the book and to make her seem more flawed (aka she’s a bit shorter for one example)

Though a young Dimitri and Byleth has formed a bond of sorts during their school days as student and professor, that bond couldn’t outweight the intensity of which Felix and Byleth began to realize they were one another’s missing piece. Everyone expects the soon to be king to wed the professor as soon as he claims the throne, but the reality is that while the child of feigning light and brightness holds out his hand, the swordsman that’s been lurking within the depths of shadows and darkness has already grabbed onto hers.

It had been five days of the professor’s absence.

A freshly young woman that could handle any battle thrown at her on the spot, a punctual advisor and brilliant tactician, was now tucked away in her room.

Byleth spent a large majority of her life void of many emotions. Her humor was expressed through a girlish snort or chuckle at most, her anger was the equivalent of facing a brick wall that refused to acknowledge the offender’s existence or pretended nothing was the matter, and her sadness was just a residing void of never having a mother figure.

That’s all there was to her really.

He remembered after the battle; Sylvain and Dimitri arguing about something useless to do with lances alongside Ingrid who couldn’t make up her damn mind over the matter.

Dimitri had shown his true colors that once plagued his nightmares from the Battle of Duscur when Glenn passed. His anger bubbling at the thought of no one paying it any mind or addressing it after the diseased villagers were taken care of. Now they took care of the demonic beasts that happened to be students and he saw that look flash across his face when he went to call out an incoming swipe directed towards him.

That boar... does no one see the chaos lying beneath?

He couldn’t stand to be around him within that moment, his mind swirling with hurt and anger from the past and now.

He stalked off, he wanted this day to end and he needed to wash up to rid himself of the stench of sweat and blood. He was alone when he stumbled upon a scene where Jeralt was conversing with Monica and Byleth was waiting nearby looking tired and wanting to rest.

Because he was alone, he let his tired mind indulge in the random thoughts he had been having of his professor lately. Like how when she was exhausted, her breathing differed with subtle visibility as she sometimes held the air a bit longer and her cheeks puffed up for a fraction of a second each time. How she stood as tall as Hilda or Bernadette even in those boot heels, but she paid no mind about how others may tower over her and freely looked up with just her eyes when she was tired when talking.

It would take years for Felix to admit he loved when she tilted her head up to look at him when speaking- prompting his ears to grow hot as his mind struggled to acknowledge the thought of her being cute in his eyes.

Or her cocky eye roll and that snort only she could pull off as Sylvain or Claude tried to crack a joke about her height and looking young like the rest of them.

He often caught her staring off, her face reacting minimally but enough for someone as observant as him to notice.

It looks like she’s talking with someone in her head.

He became acutely aware of the things she did within the monastery and on the battlefield. He hated it; hated that he couldn’t control his thoughts or feelings.

Maybe it was this moment that opened a door for him as to who Byleth really was.

He was in the middle of rubbing tiredly at one eye when he noticed a flash of anger, hatred, fear and pain hit her face as she reached for the Sword or Creator, the blade already erupting in flames as she hurried to step forwards. The look in her eyes was murderous and aimed towards Monica.

Does he stop her? Is he supposed to join forces with her?

Monica had already occupied his thoughts in terms of her being different since being found. She had seemed too cheery and okay with what happened. Felix didn’t trust her at all, but then again he didn’t trust most to start with.

He had only managed to reach for the handle of his sword -ultimately deciding to back Byleth up because she wouldn’t set out against anyone without reason- when Monica darted out behind Jeralt with a smirk and reached for a dagger, her intent already clear when another person showed up and did the bidding for her and saved Monica before Byleth’s sword could save her father.

And then she was left alone on the field, holding her dying father in her arms as she began sobbing. He didn’t notice his fellow classmates catching up with him and having seen from a distance what happened, he didn’t notice that look flash across the boar’s face yet again, he didn’t notice a lot of things that weren’t Byleth.

She was crying and clutching him tighter as he muttered his last words to her and then she let out a bloodcurdling scream that racked his entire body with the pain she felt as it carried on several seconds with immense vocal range he didn’t know she had.

She was exhausted and in an overwhelming amount of pain and anger that she soon found herself wavering as she continued to cry. And she, herself, didn’t notice a set of armored arms quickly catching her as she tipped backwards before blackness set in.

The students followed in a hurry as Dimitri and Sylvain worked to carry Jeralt’s body carefully to Manuela in hopes of reviving him. Ingrid grabbed her sword and Mercedes shouted healing spells at the dying man.

It was the first time they were on the battlefield without the guidance of their professor who was tucked under Felix’s chin and nuzzled into his neck as he ran back to the monastery, shouting orders in her place alongside Dimitri.

It had been five days.

Five days and Felix found himself worried like he had never been. He helped bury Jeralt’s body with Sylvain and Dimitri, watching as they covered the wooden casket and seeing the man who cherished his professor more than anyone in the world. It struck hard with him as he forced himself out of the scene and fighting off any memories that dared to resurface.

He couldn’t sleep later on, whether it was the worrying that kept him awake staring at his ceiling or Sylvain’s latest breakup, or the bout of insomnia only Sylvain and Mercedes were aware of, he would never know. In the end, he found himself wandering around the monastery like many nights had brought him to do. Light on his feet as he learned to correct through his spars with the professor, he wasn’t heard in the night. He wore his uniform that was halfway buttoned despite the chill in the air, fully expecting to spend the entire night awake and then head to a seminar maybe when the others woke as well.

He was just edging the bridge that connected to the church when he caught site of dark teal swaying in the wind. His foot steps stopped abruptly as his breath caught at the woman who had been locked up in her room. She wore her riding shorts and her black top without the armor or laced tights, her jacket gone and replaced with a thin robe she must use for bed, and her neck bare of the connecting collar piece. Her feet were shoeless as she stood on the half wall of the bridge, crying quietly and forcing down choked noises that didn’t pass the swordsman’s ears. He approached carefully from behind her.

She was mumbling to herself, barely intelligible enough to understand but he heard words and phrases such as, “I can’t”, “sorry,” “Sothis”, and the one that made his stomach drop, “I give up.”

Her foot moved to step off the bridge ledge as Felix ran up behind her and caught ahold of her waist before she fell forwards. He yanked her roughly as she let out a startled gasp and tumbled backwards with him into the middle of the bridge walkway. It was a second before she started kicking and trying to fight her way out of his clasp to finish what she started. Felix held on tighter for every blow, gritting his teeth and sitting them upwards as he pushed them both backwards with his feet until he was leaning against the wall with her in his arms.

“Let me go, Fraldarius!” She growled and pushed at his arms as they clung tighter to her.

“Professor, please stop this!” She kept going, her nails reaching up and making contact with his jaw down towards his neck, leaving red marks in their wake as he bit down, “Professor you have to stop this idiotic scheme and calm down!”

“Fuck you, fuck everyone. I don’t want to keep going anymore.” She was halfway out of his strong arms and hold when he yanked her back down and his face was inches from hers.

“Fucking test me, Byleth.�� He hissed, his amber eyes glared her dark teal ones down as hers suddenly seemed more awake and shocked at her name slipping from his lips. “Do you think this is the right choice? Do you think you can solve all your problems by giving up and leaping off this bridge? Killing yourself won’t ease the pain, it’ll just spread it to everyone else.”

His eyes eased up and panic filled them as her nose scrunched up and her face fell in dispair, her lips trembled as whimpers passed them. He wasn’t sure when he moved, but his left hand quickly cupped the back of her neck and brought her face to rest in the crook of his own neck as his right arm supported her weight that laid in his lap, slanted and shaking. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders, clinging on as if she would fall from the bridge without his support to keep her grounded.

His cheek leaned into her hair as he felt hot tears gliding down his neck and chest before they became one with his uniform. Her sobs vibrated against his own chest and her shivering became more pronounced.

Somewhere in the far depths of his mind did he acknowledge that fact that he never acted this way around anyone, somewhere did he realize he has never openly comforted anyone as well, somewhere in those depths did he realize he’s never touched anyone like this or gotten close to anyone as he was now.

Was she breaking a wall of his down?

No, that’d be impossible.

He nosed her teal hair, “Prof-,” she shook her head and made a negative noise in response. “Byleth, let me take you to your room.” She was still crying but keeping it quiet, “You’re freezing, Byleth. You can’t handle the cold like most of us can, you’ve said so yourself.”

He gently pried her face upwards, his hand holding her cheek that was puffy from the exhaustion. His thumb wiped away at the tears, “Please, let me take you to your bed, Byleth.” He was shocked at his own whispered tone, even further more when she nodded and he found himself guiding her face back to where it was before he stood up with her small frame in his arms, walking the long trek back to her room.

Neither spoke the whole way, they accepted the silence of the darkness and emptied their minds of the nightmarish thoughts that would soon come. Felix wanted to say something snarky and cold, wanted to restablish his personality to prevent tonight from alluding he had developing feelings towards his professor. His mouth opened to bite out a comment about her getting his uniform wet, glancing down to point a glare at her.

His words died in his throat at the sight of her bottom lip quivering against his skin. Instead, his mouth shut tightly and he brought her closer, brushing the tip of his nose against her hair that smelled of roses.

He figured she must’ve chosen to bathe at night in the bathhouse of the monastery when everyone was in bed.

He shifted her light weight to quietly open the door to her room, only a few candles lit here and there by Manuela during her visits to coax Byleth out of the room. He sat on the edge of her bed sideways, leaning down to carefully unwrap her arms from his neck and guided her to lay on her side. His hand brushed her hair out of her face, wiping away a few tears before he shifted some and grabbed her royal blue blanket she was gifted by his class. He pulled it to her shoulders and squeezed one gently before he stood up to make his leave.

His body stilled when he felt a small hand grasp his wrist, “I, I’m-,” he turned to see her sitting up, her eyes on her hand. She breathed deeply, “I’m not great with my words, and this may be wildly inappropriate given my position here, but,” she fumbled some more.

He found himself forcing his usual bitter tone, “Professor, spit it out. I don’t have all night.”

To his surprises, he saw the corner of her mouth twitch upwards. Her eyes met his and he willed his racing mind to calm down. “Got more damsels in distress to save from an insomnia filled night? (Because of course she noticed he was an insomniac). Isn’t chivalry dead in your eyes?”

“You think I’d rather have it that you were dead in front of my very eyes?” He barked back in a hushed tone, hissing through his teeth. Her mouth parted ever so slightly, eyes taking in his state. Amber stared back into her, genuine terror reflected back at her that was hidden behind anger, and his chest stuttered. He faced her fully, “Professor,” she nearly rolled her eyes.

“Professor, Professor, Professor. That’s all I hear everyday. I can’t remember the last time it felt more like a nickname than an obligation.” Hands came up to push back her hair, bangs mixing with the longer strands.

Felix can’t remember a time where he had seen her face fully with her hair out of the way; staring longer than he should, noting the dark black eyebrows that made her teal eyes seem ever more mesmerizing. The lack of shadow on her small button nose that light bounced off the tip of. She had a slim face, but her cheeks were puffy in a way you had to take a great notice of.

“Then what do you suppose I call you?”

“Call me by my name,” her legs hung off the edge of the bed, dangling. “We already crossed a line on the bridge. You’re quiet and reserved so there’s little chance you’ll out me to the church about what happened. Take this as a sign of trust.”

“Fine.” He took a glance at the door, “Well, Byleth, I should take my leave.” He spoke turning his back to her as he made way to the door.

“Felix,” her voice was quiet.

“What is it now?”

The sound of rustling came from behind him as she stood up, hand resting on his shoulder, “You don’t have to leave, you can stay and sleep here.”

He swung around to face her, “By goddess, what the hells do you mean by that?” Surely she couldn’t mean...

Byleth’s hand fell to her side, her lips twitched up for a split second, “I mean you’re not going to get sleep and I’m sure helping me tonight didn’t ease the cause.”

“I,” he stumbled for words, his mind racking for an answer and sense of the situation she laid before him.

He wanted to stay, and at the same moment he wanted to run away from her and pretend the whole night in its entirety never occurred. She terrified him. Everything about her drew him in and it terrified him to bits. He spent almost his whole life without feelings that were beyond mundane in his eyes. Even as a child, Dimitri, Sylvain, and Ingrid could attest to the fact that was a bratty child with manners and polite behavior.

Could he drown himself in her? Could he throw himself into the depth of the unknown that was beyond his element?

He dared not to consider the word that could explain everything he felt entirely. He was smart enough to know that once he did, he wouldn’t be able to ignore or look back.

Those dark teal eyes stared up at him, the very same eyes that the class joked about looking dead and bored to all living hells. He noticed just like they did. But now, all he could notice was the variety of emotions that laid underneath. The brightness that was hidden by pain and grief, trying to push past and show him this new side to her.

He hadn’t realized he was inching closer to her and leaning down until she blinked and her long lashes pulled him out of his trance long enough for the panic to set in.

“I, I should go. I’ll see you when you return to class, Professor.” He rushed out as carefully as he could, ears in flames of embarrassment. He nearly ran out the door with the thought of feigning composure on his mind.

By the time Felix reached his room, his mind had already been consumed by thoughts of Byleth.

He sat on the edge of his bed, hands making quick work of his uniform top as he shrugged it off and felt cool air hit his heated skin. The swordsman laid back, hands pushing his own bangs back from his flushed face as thoughts settled deep into his mind. His hands held alongside his temples as his eyes pierced into the darkness, mouth panting slightly with only sharp, bottom canines peaking out.

He had always been composed, itching for a fight and spar all day, yes, but he was composed and made of steel.

Made of steel that would crumble in the wake of Byleth Eisner.

Besides, he couldn’t possibly be a possibility for her. There was Dimitri, the prince who was so damn smitten with her, it drove Felix up the wall with the lack of subtly he eluded. He had no room in Byleth’s life besides to spar with her.

Even so, the young man found himself awake another hour or so before he was cursing to the night and stalking out the door with his uniform jack being shoved on without a care for the buttons. He was quick to make way down the stairs and through the grass, up the other set of stairs before he found himself opening the door to her room and closing it behind him.

“Felix?”, she sat in her desk chair, tea cup in hand and to her chest. She had changed in the time he had been gone for she was dressed in a silk blue slip nightie that reached above her knees, her thin robe still covering her as well. He once overheard Annette and Ingrid talking of such nightwear clothing before class and how it was most often found in other lands beyond Fodlàn. Maybe he wasn’t alright in the head, maybe he had taken one too many blows and had lost some sense in him for he couldn’t bring himself to appreciate the expanse of skin or subtle curves of her body as much as he should’ve. He kept looking at her eyes and her nose and brows, being drawn in by her face far more than her body that sat cross legged in front of him.

The very same woman that once beat the boys in an arm wrestling match and flipped Felix onto his back during a sparring match was now showing every bit of femininity he forgot laid beneath to a mercenary like her. Even her nails on her feet were flower stained blue from the forget me nots growing in the greenhouse nursery. Felix knew she was attractive beyond words, he did more than a few lingering glances the first day she taught because he was bewildered how a woman like her could fight like a dying man on his last bit of adrenaline with the strength of well, Dimitri breaking scissors.

Not as strong of course.

“Felix? You came back.” She titled her head up at him as he walked over to her chair, her bangs brushed out of her face leaving the entirety of it exposed. He nodded, swallowing hard as she set the cup down and stood to meet him. Her hand reached out to cup his cheek, “Could you not sleep?”

His lips parted once to answer, the warmth of her hand seeping into his skin. He didn’t recoil at her touch, didn’t throw her hand to the side and forced a stern look her way. He felt bile rise to his throat instead, her eyes suffocating him in a way he’s never felt as he towered over her. He swallowed it down and tried to think of it as a sparring lesson between the two to ease his nerves.

“No, I couldn’t.”

“When was the last time you were able to?”

He blinked, trying to recall the last day. “I got at least five hours before the demonic battle. Lately, it’s been one to three hours each night or none at all.” It was easy to talk to her, easy to answer her.

“How often does this happen?”

Almost about every other night since Glenn died.

“Often.” He nearly missed the affectionate look that passed her eyes before they were swallowed by concern.

Her hand was so warm and soft despite the faint callous marks from wielding a sword. “When I first saw you, I knew right away that you must be plagued by insomnia and sleepless nights more often than not.” Her free hand came up to trace gently under his eyes as he stared at her, more of the wall crumbling in the wake of her touch as he found himself leaning into her hand. “Your eyes are so beautiful and surreal, it almost made sense they be weighed out by the goddess to suffer lone and awake nights.”

Felix didn’t know she could say words like this, didn’t know she was capable of thinking thoughts with such depth. She was brilliant and intelligent beyond compare, but she never expressed this side of herself.

She noticed him so early on?

He didn’t flinch at her words, didn’t need to suppress an eye roll either. Instead he leaned his forehead down to hers. “Byleth,..”.

“I’m sorry.” Her hand readjusted itself on his cheek, other following suit until she gently held his face in her hands. Her thumb shyly traced over his bottom lip, sometimes catching it without realization and dragging it out to reveal his straight set of white teeth people had only ever seen in a menacing bearing of them. “I’m sorry you saw me tonight, and I’m sorry you saw me on the battlefield before Monica-,” she closed her eyes, forcing down a sob that threatened to make way. His right hand came to hold one wrist to his cheek, his left hovering over her waist until he took the plunge of a dagger to carefully hold her. “You’ve caught me twice this week, I’m eternally grateful it was you to save me.”

“I don’t, I don’t know what that means.” Her skin was warm and he savored the heat radiating off her while she shivered close to him.

“I don’t either. I just know that you were the one to catch me as I lost consciousness and stability on the field, and you were the one to save me from myself a moment ago.” Her nose brushed up against his, the temptation to lean down and bring their lips together was reeling in his mind for the first time outside of his dreams. “I also know that while he exonerates this ray of light and hope for the kingdom, you’re there in the dark by chance, ready to draw a sword if anyone steps in my path.” He doesn’t have to ask to know she’s talking of Dimitri.

“I think you may be right. I think that may be my purpose.”

“You make me question whether or not I believe in fate and destiny.”

“Me?” Felix pulled back, surprise etched onto his sharp, handsome features.

“You have since we met at the Goddess Tower, I wasn’t going to go but I found myself there and you as well.” She was looking up at him again, that may just be a mere weakness of his.

And he hates staring, but after the insistent tea parties she has with every student and him, he’s starting to relax at the gesture.

“I just felt a strong need to breakaway from the crowd, I don’t do well in them.”

“I know that better than anyone.” She stood on tiptoes, one arm wounding around his neck as the other slid down to place a hand over his chest where his heart laid beneath.

He prayed to the goddess she couldn’t feel how anxious he was feeling.

“Byleth,” her name rolled off his tongue far easier than a mere “professor” did. Her hand nearly scorched his skin that was bare under it. “I feel as though I should take my leave.”

Her button nose nudged his again, “What do you want to do?”

“Stay here.” Felix responded fast and assertive, his hand reaching to hold hers to his chest.

“That’s very unlike you.”

He let out a short and quiet chuckle, “Seeing you like this? That’s very unlike you yourself.”

“Is it that awful?” Her voice was barely audible to his ears.

Did she really think this side to her wasn’t worthy to be seen by anyone? If anything, people weren’t worthy to see it themselves.

His mind acted on its own accord, new thoughts and ideas swirling in his head as he felt his lips connect with her cheek. “I’m drawn to this side as much as I’m drawn to you around the monastery and you caked in blood and sweat on the battlefield with a sword in your hand.” He was panicking; unable to suppress thoughts he had tucked away in the far corners of his mind. Everything was rising to the surface as he felt a new part of himself step forwards that was hidden away with his feelings for the mercenary.

And at the same time, it felt as though he could finally breathe for the first time in a long while.

She peered up at him, a woman with immense might and power, and she looked small and fragile within this moment. Someone that could slay thousands of men if forced to was being held by him like she could break.

His heart nearly collapsed.

She stepped backwards, hand coming down with his in tow, fingers interlaced by goddess knows who or when. He followed her, watching as she blew out the few candles when a thought occurred.

“What about Professor Manuela?”

“I have it on good authority she’ll be nursing a major head pain tomorrow morning and avoiding the outside aroma as it ‘sickens her since love isn’t real and nothing is beautiful besides her’, she won’t be seeing me tomorrow unless it’s beyond afternoon.” She raised the final candle close to him, ready to blow out the final one and set it on the desk behind him, when she let go of his hand instead. “Felix,” she started, eyes flashing with immense guilt.

He knew his typical response would’ve been impatient, telling her to get on with it so he would know what was keeping her, but that part of him that he was unaware of being devoted to her took the reigns of handling his natural reactions that Felix didn’t want to resurface in front of her right now.

Especially if they are directed at her.

It wasn’t a split in his personality per se, and it wasn’t another identity living in his head. It was Felix, finding a lost part of himself unknowingly that was left in debris and rubble.

He went to ask what was wrong when her hand gently titled his head up and angled it, finger tracing along the skin of his jaw to his neck. He hissed, wincing even as she touched the undamaged portion of the skin that was too close to her claw marks. “Shit,” was all he managed out, jerking out of her grasp by habit.

Her hand drew back, “Felix, I’m so incredibly sorry and ashamed for doing that to you. I can’t excuse harming you, I can only say I was trapped within my own thoughts and motives that I must not have broke out in time even as you grabbed hold of me. I don’t expect forgiveness or understanding, I just need you to know I regret it happened and I didn’t do it to intentionally harm you.”

Felix looked at her, catching her eyes lingering on the red trail he hadn’t realized was there after the moment passed. Grief for him and a sense of her being apologetic filled her eyes, but no sense of a desire to be let off so easily like a child would want. Regardless,..

He stepped closer, index finger lifting her small chin up as she tore her glare away from her offending marks and met his eyes, now focusing on the dark, hollowed marks under them that she noticed from day one.

“Byleth, I know what it’s like to be on the battlefield in your own mind, alone. It’s a terrifying experience and I understand that you were protecting yourself in some twisted way that would’ve done worse for you in the end.” His hands trailed down to her arms, “I’m okay, I’m more concerned with you at the moment and rather glad I received these marks than caught you a second too late.” His jaw tightened painfully for a few seconds as he tore his stare elsewhere to get the image from his head. “My point is, it was a moment of weakness. Even the greatest heroes can have them and should be granted them, as long as they have someone behind them ready to save the day and help.”

She reached for his hands, interlacing their fingers. “I figured you would give me the hardest time for it.”

“I may be a simple man on the outside, Byleth, but I’m far more complex than one could imagine.” He pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist, “I’m thankful for these scratches just as I am thankful to have you in front of me. We can worry about the marks in the morning, for now let me sleep and you can consider yourself more than forgiven.”

He let out a soft smile when she nodded, unaware of the rare reaction from the swordsman as she pulled the covers back. Felix pulled the uniform top off, resting it on her chair as he stepped out of his shoes and followed her under the blankets. His heart hammered in his chest and he was a few steps from being just anxious, but he settled to the idea of her pushing her pillow further up the bed for him, his right arm extending across the span of the bed. And he became sedated when she opted to use his arm for a pillow instead, her robe-soft back hitting his chest as his left arm hung heavily over her waist, rounding along to the edge of her stomach.

“I’m going to force you to eat more, Eisner. You missed a few meals already.”

She hummed, shifting her back some more until he leaned his chest closer to her, “I’ll comply only if you eat with me.”

“You insatiable woman,” he mumbled out, halfheartedly as he maneuvered some to grab hold of her right hand that had been closest to her face, interlocking their fingers together once again. His voice dropped to a whisper, thumb stroking patterns over her skin, “Byleth, I don’t know what this is or what it means.”

“I know, I don’t either. I just feel,” she trailed off.

“Feel what?”

She tilted her body ever so slightly to meet his eyes, “I feel as though you are my greatest shield against myself and the evil out there. I feel that I need you in ways that are beyond my comprehension as of now.” She saw his startled look, turning back as her eyes started to grow heavy.

“I think you may be the closest thing to a powerful impacting vulnerary to me.” She mumbled a response, her words lost to sleep. Felix felt his own mind become fuzzy and felt a wave of drowsiness hit him stronger than ever. He pressed a chaste kiss into her hair, “Then I’ll be your shield that’s in the shadows if that’s what you need, Byleth.”

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mirroralchemist · 5 years ago

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Untitled FFXIV Trash pt.1

So I’m kinda back to sharing writing again. A lot of writing rust so bear with me as I shake it off.

Word Count: 1088 Fandom: FFXIV (set in ShB so SPOILERS) Notes: This is really the first writing I’ve done for XIV and just like me my WoL is a jumbled mess, so shit might not make sense. So pls be gentle u -u” (there’s some one-sided WoL/Thancred if you squint)

It had been some time since I’ve been summoned to this land. The unyielding light slowly, but surely, dissipating into the night. It’s an odd sensation to see the sudden shift from light to the night. We had left as the Crystarium as a group of three; now returning doubled the size. A bit worse for the wear, but at least all of us are back. After the reports and what not, something still turned into my head.

I wouldn’t call myself a tactician of this group, I would more see myself as the sword.

But after the many battles I’ve participated in, I knew one person protecting five, soon to be six, of us was too much.

The thought stuck with me through our report back to the Exarch; to my personal chambers. A time I should be resting for our next mission. I step out onto the city, unable to sleep. Under the quietness of the night I find a striking dummy.

At times like these, going through my forms help me think better.

Thinking upon our past encounters, noting how we could have been brushed aside if it wasn’t for the timely interventions of the Fae. I needed to get stronger so that the others wouldn’t be hurt like that again. Seeing that man use martial arts so efficiently and effortlessly put my own skills to shame. But even with my growing potential as a Monk, I still lacked the capabilities to protect everyone as I wanted to.

I could hit hard and hopefully end our fights faster.

I wanted to take on those hits to lighten his load too.

Transitioning into each of my fighting stances have become second nature to me, barely any thought goes into it. It gives me the opportunity to think of my next step. The Eulmoran army are more privy to our group of the Oracle and a Warrior of Darkness, there are no doubts in my mind they will come at us with more intensity as our journey continues.

“Ah there you are.” spoke a voice.

I stop mid-punch.

Under different circumstances, I would have been more alert. But I knew this voice, this comforting presence. A small breath leaves my mouth before I turn towards the source. It’s an odd feeling to stare at him again. Different from the last time I saw him awake, but the same when we first met under the Sultantree.

“Couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.” I answered truthfully.

“Pray tell, what’s on your mind Warrior of Darkness.”

“Stop that. I don’t like it when my friends call me by my titles.”

He chuckles, though I believe it doesn’t quite show how he really feels.

We stand side by side in comfortable silence. A reunion without the imminent threat of armies or Sin Eaters, greeted with silence. I glanced to the side, seeing that he was without the white coat that adorns his form. He was probably getting ready for bed too before searching for me I guess.

Or something else occupies his mind this night.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that question.” I spoke, “I saw what happened then with ‘Filia, the Echo…I shouldn’t have asked that question so bluntly.”

He’s stiffened into place. My guilt grows a tiny bit more. I wish I could turn off the Echo triggers at times. But it has happened and we all have to deal with the fall out from it. He never had answered how he wanted this to end.

A choice must be made, whether we will it or no.

“I’m not good at these things.” I admitted, “But if you do need to talk or vent, I am here. I just wa-”

“That’s enough Ami.”

I pause mid-sentence. The clipped tone of speaking my name letting my words die out. I would relent this time. Because it’s him. I let out a small breath. That vision and ‘Filia’s words to me while we were in Pla Enni weighed in my mind again. He couldn’t have been ignorant of her feelings. He wasn’t, I’m sure. Why else would he throw himself head first at the first sign of danger? Why else would he end up teaching her his knifeplay when he devotes himself to the gunblade?

My thoughts were becoming a mess.

“Sorry.”

I look up to see that now he’s staring at me. Or rather, at my body. But it wasn’t in the longing gaze that I used to see him back on the Source. Rather, it was analytical.

“Where did you get those bruises?” he asked.

A quick scan over myself revealed the slightly darkened splotches of purple near my chest and welts on my ribs. Which, if I was wearing the sash that was with my armor, would have covered up nicely.

“Ah hells, I thought I could hide it. It doesn’t hurt.”

“It doesn’t explain where you got them.”

There was that look again, scrutinizing me like a brother does to their sister.

...their sister.

“You’ve ever been hit by a fifty yalm sentient tree Thancred? It’s not pleasant when your main source of attack is punching. On top of easily being tossed aside by a man who’s probably seen at least three times your years. The wounds have healed but the pride will not recover so easily. It’s a sobering experience to feel that for all the trials and tribulations I’ve faced, it’s not enough.”

I was getting frustrated at myself once more. I wave it off before gathering my belongings. I had to go before I said something I didn’t want public. I spared a glanced towards his direction. There was the concern again. I clutched at my chest, feeling the numbing pain whenever these things happened. I gave him a small smile.

“It’s been a long few days. I’m going to rest, you should do the same.”

I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, as if the winds were guiding me. I did not stop for anything until I reached my apartment within the Pendants. I slammed the double doors before sinking down onto the ground. My heart still pounding. I ran a hand through my dark blue hair, letting it run through my fingertips before it falling just above my shoulders. I had did it again. I can already hear that voice chiding me on ruining yet another moment to make my intentions known.

And I was still no closer to a solution to my initial problems.

Godsdammit.

#shit writing #writing things #fanfiction #fanfic #final fantasy XIV #FFXIV #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #first fic for the fandom #pls be gentle #u wu #mild spoilers #My WoL would totally use Fists of Wind to run away

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horizon-armor · 2 years ago

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Tenakth Marshal | Tenakth Tactician Cold Sands Lowland Stalker Night Blood Renegade Sentinel Scorched Ochre

All Dyes

#armor-name-marshal #armor-name-marshal-1 #armor-tribe-tenakth #armor-tribe-tenakth-1 #armor-rarity-veryrare #armor-rarity-veryrare-1 #armor-spec-survivor #armor-spec-survivor-1 #armor-group-tactician

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spell406 · 5 years ago

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So, a friend of mine basically forced me to watch at least one episode of Netflix Castlevania.

(Disc - I am new to tumblr and had a little problems with posting this thing correctly. Sorry for spam)

So I watched one. And then another. And another… When I finished it was 3 a.m., my eyes were burned out, my brain fried, and my soul forever forfeited, but whatever, who need it anyway.

I am new to the universe, and I know that I am something like 10 months late to the review party, so instead I decided to just share a bunch of thoughts of mine. [UPDATE – Because I am extremely heavy procrastinator and it took me almost two weeks to write this thing I am already at 50% of SoTN right now I’ve finished SoTN by now]

First of all – Castlevania looks like anime, but shares almost nothing common with it. It was a relief, to be honest, as I was a little afraid of show being just another shounen with specific set of clichés and similarities that might quite not bad (or even enjoyable), but I’ve seen them too many times before – better or worse executed – to watch without a mild nausea another Bleach/Naruto in a darker scenario.

I would never demand a fantasy world to be realistic. Like, who would do, fantasy world is supposed to be… fantasy, right? I am fine with lack of realism but I can’t say the same about lack of common sense, and there is a matter of logic that I personally find quite funny. When you are about to fight in close quarters with someone, with both of you lives on stake you’ll want to use every possible advantage. In general there are two kinds of battle armors – first one is focused on providing maximum protection (like typical medieval plate armor) and second one designed to grant freedom of movement especially critical in usually legwork-heavy duels. And here are our “battle” priests in gowns. Gowns, that manage to provide neither aforementioned advantage and downsides of both. Heh. It just bothers me too much, honestly.

I really love the flow of narration; the way that every character including antagonists has its own set of motives and reasons, even Carmilla has her own background that is convicting to justify her bitchery (Well, she has seen it before, right? And Dracula wasn’t even trying to hide his apathy, so why would she like to watch as dead man wages his hollow war)(Is it only me or Dracula shows typical signs of severe depression? Apathy, lack of strength to take any decision, not taking care of himself, loss of interest – even in his own war – well, to be honest he has a good reason to do so).

Animations. Ah, that one is unquestionably excellent, although you Powerhouse Animation guys could have make use of an additional 4-5 fps – from time to time I had a feeling that there is a cat sitting on my keyboard’s space bar, pausing and starting show over and over - it happened something like two or three times. If it comes to favorite scenes – for me, it would be first meeting and fight between Trevor and Alucard. The dialogue and music is so good at reflecting rising pressure and tension between those two – let put oneself in Trevor’s boots – just day before he was rather concerned about getting some food/drink and move on and now he is standing against something that he now considers to be last boss of his life, or perhaps not, he doesn’t even know how does Dracula looks like and he doesn’t seem to be openly aggressive, or perhaps yes, he is obviously vampire and he seems to doesn’t like Belmont name, on the other hand even lesser vampire might be not so easy foe and he is kinda out of practice, and Sypha doesn’t feel like helping out, at least for now… It is all just perfect, and the sound track alone is stuff of legends. (Season 2 OST on Spotify WHEN??”)

Second best would be first phase of Dracula fight – the way which they are team working fluently to not let eachother get killed pleases my inner maniac in best possible way, although the 1 vs 1 part is kinda downgrade - but still ok.

But there is one thing that really stands out in best possible way from things I’ve seen before and that’s utilization of facial expression and body language. Like seriously, this combined with really outstanding voice acting bring interactions between characters to another damned level. (Unfortunately, national translation and voice acting is so awful that I couldn’t bear myself to finish even first season). There are few thing I consider more important in creating credible character than combining overall expressiveness and voice acting, the ability to tell words without actually using any (Finding Ciri cinematic in Witcher 3 is perhaps best known to me example) - and Castlevania does it just soooo good.

Dracula generals. When they were shown for the first time I was like “oh boy he has summoned generals, (Generals! Master tactician, the artists of war!) the oldest, most cunning and powerful beasts from entire world, now things are going to get rough.” And how did it turned out? I can understand that Dracula tasked his forge masters with overseeing the war (Although his reasoning was kind of ok, good job Dracula for nominating for executives two people, that knew least about proceeding war) Did they were incompetent so much? Then how did they managed to get their titles, if they were just a bunch of endlessly whining mischief-makers? They were supposed to know how war looks like, and how to do one, but instead they did literally nothing for war effort! If you ask me, that is at least one risen eyebrow. Excluding Godbrand, the only member of council that did anything more than grate his teeth in silent anger, killed some civilians and got taken care of quite effortlessly. Also, Godbrand wasn’t made to be the sharpest knife in a closet, but he still was bright enough to ask himself “What will we do when we’ll win a war?” Also, he managed to notice that there were no real plan to follow... That is +1 to you Godbrand, I’ll miss you my vikingy boi. In the end, if they were meant to be just a background, they did get a little too much of screen time, and if they were not, they got faaaaaar from enough of it.

By the way – not sure if it’s only me but I personally think that Trevor might be keenest (or – at least – not dumbest) of protagonist trio. He might lack classic education, but he is careful watcher (he noticed fresh oil in torch and overall state of Alucard’s hideout), he correctly chosen and quite successfully executed strategy at Gresit square (isolate, divide and destroy) and quite steadfastly shrugged off Alucard bickering (well, most of times). Also, his plan for battle with vampire generals was quite logical – avoid close quarter cause humans are in general more fragile than vampires, and Alucard as frontline. My inner maniac was most pleased.

As I said before, I really enjoy Castlevania’s overall character design but with an exception of bishop of Gresit. There is no reason for his work, I know that he is insane and reasoning usually does not apply to those like him but I feel like there is no reason in villainy (this entire talking about making a God’s own country – well, I don’t buy it), aside of being genuinely baaaaad, which kinda stands out in negative way in comparison to the rest of characters.

To highlight the issue, lets do some roleplaying here:

The night creatures are ravaging the land that you had sworn to protect in unholy war against humanity, killing women, men even your subordinates alike. The citizens are growing restless, and demand taking an action. How do you proceed?

a) Find the last descendant of family known for their prowess in fighting those beasts; but be wary – he doesn’t seem to like you very much after you branded him as heretic, exterminated his entire family and burned down his home (probably with some of aforementioned family still inside it). However, if you nicely ask for help, reverse the curse, apology for making mistake and return the estate it actually might work. (to be honest that could be quite interesting moral choice for Trevor, to help people of Wallachia and let bishop take all glory or decline the bishop proposition and screw people over in the process)

b) You can fight them, you are the Holy Church after all. You have access to unlimited supply of holy water, relics, you have enough money and authority to arm and train people’s militia properly. Your knowledge of those beasts might be as wide as Belmont family, but at least should be sufficient to minimalize the damage. Killing the Dracula, however, might be impossible for you.

c) You spent most of your time on biting, trashing, or looking for anyone to cast entire blame upon; it doesn’t matter who is that poor bastard as long as it is not you. In addition, you…

AAAAARGH I CAN’T CONTAIN MYSELF ANY LONGER! BROTHER, I DON’T FEEL LIKE I AM WICKED ENOUGH! I REQUIRE TO SEE SOME SUFFERING OF INNOCENT TO FEAST UPON! WHAT DO YOU SAY, BROTHER? I CANT HEAR YOU OVER RAGE BOILING IN MY VEINS! WHAT, SPEAKERS? OF COURSE THEY WILL DO RAAAAAARRGARGAJGIOGJIHKBYIUOL

Oh well.

Well, looks like I am done here. By the way, sorry for my English, I am not a native speaker (If I’ve commited any spectacular crime against vocabulary/grammar let me know on priv).

Now I’m going back to rewatching show and torturing SoTN

No TL:DR, just read it if you want, it is not an entire book, you know.

#castlevania #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #alucard

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