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ofsinnersandsaints · 4 years ago

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where do you run

rating: E (this chapter is T) word count: 17805 chapter: 6/?

take place at the end of episode 77 and the beginning of 78

AO3

It was Pike’s idea to have the pillow fort, and Grog thought it was a great idea.

While Vex cleaned up, he and Pike went around the fort to scavenge for blankets and pillows to spread them out in front of the fire. They had a handful already, but Pike wanted more so they were poking around to see what else they could get. “Are you going to ask?”

Pike pulled a blanket out of trunk and sniffed it, they’d found one or two that had smelled like mold and she’d deemed them unworthy for their sleepover. “Ask about what, Grog?”

“Me and Keyleth.”

“Oh,” she tilted her head as she looked up at him. “I figured if you wanted to talk about it you’d bring it up. Do you want to talk about it?”

Grog shrugged. “Not much to talk about, I don’t think. Everyone else is poking and prodding, thought you might want to as well.”

Pike nodded and gestured for him to lean down so she could add the blanket to his growing pile. Once she did she grabbed his face and he let her. “I only have one question. Are you happy?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m fighting fucking dragons.”

“Grog,” she warned.

“It’s new,” he answered seriously because other than that he didn’t know what it was. He and Keyleth hadn’t really talked about anything after they’d made good use of his bed, just curled up and passed out. And there hadn’t been much of a chance to talk after with Daxio burning and all. There was something there between them, but he wasn’t smart enough to know the word for it. “And different. But it’s good.”

“Good is good.”

Grog returned Pike’s smile with one of his own. “Good is good.”

They walked back into the main room and put the blankets in a semi-circle around the large fire while everyone went to the table where food had been laid out. It wasn’t much, but it would get them through the night and that’s what mattered.

As Grog piled up his plate he kept an eye on Keyleth who looked as if she was about to pass out at any minute. He wondered if he should check on her, then wondered if that was his place. She could take care of herself, and for all he knew their night messing up the sheets had simply been her ‘now-or-never’ before they all died at the hands of a red dragon.

Even as the thought passed through his head he was moving to stand behind her. “You look like you’re going to fall over.”

She immediately leaned back against him, her plate titling in her hand so he reached out to grab it. “I feel like I’m going to fall asleep standing.”

“I got your stuff, find a spot next to the fire so you don’t die from fainting.”

“That would be embarrassing,” she mumbled as she pushed off him and moved towards the piles of blankets and furs. She nearly bumped into Vex who came down from the bath, freshly washed but still wearing her dirty armor.

“Grog, pull out the jug, will you? I think we could all use a drink tonight.”

There was a chorus of agreement as most of Vox Machina found their places around the large hearth. Grog sat down and handed Keyleth her plate before pulling the jug out of the bag of holding. He grabbed a couple of glasses and filled them up, passing them to each of his friends except for Keyleth who shook her head.

“If I have a sip I’ll be drunk,” she said as she pushed her hair over her shoulder.

Not even a second later Vex leaned forward, eyes wide. “You’ve got a hickey, Keyleth.”

Grog stilled, but before he had a chance to worry about it Keyleth waved a tired hand. “I’m aware.”

Vex opened her mouth then closed it before she looked around at the group, settling back into her spot. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Good,” Vax piped up. “I think we’re all too tired for this conversation, stubby.”

Grog watched as Vex glared at her brother. “Aren’t you just the least bit curious?”

“I’m about as interested in whatever is going on between them as I am about whatever is going on between you and Percy. Which is zero.”

“I’m interested in both things,” Scanlan piped up. “Please, give us precise and graphic details.”

Pike threw a pillow at his head even as he laughed.

“Leave them alone guys,” Pike ordered with her serious look. “We just saved an entire city. We need to eat, drink, and then sleep. All thinking should wait until tomorrow, cleric’s orders.”

Vex grumbled but drank from her cup and just a few minutes later Keyleth was leaning against him, her eyes shut. “Might be more comfortable on the blankets.”

There was a small smile on her lips, but she didn’t move. “I’m good here.”

He shifted his arm so he could wrap it around the druid, and she immediately cuddled closer. When he felt a small warmth around his middle he looked down and saw her hands glowed slightly. “Are you healing me?” he asked, amused and touched by the gesture.

“It’s just a little spell,” she shrugged.

“I’ll be fine by the morning,” he reminded her.

“You never know what might happen in the middle of the night,” she argued. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Whatever floats your boat, but I would like to lay down at some point.”

Keyleth pulled away and blinked her eyes open, barely awake. “Do you want to be closer to the fire, or further?”

“Further.”

She stretched out next to him, and since she was all but asleep already, he grabbed one of the fur blankets and pulled it across her. And like she had the past few nights Keyleth immediately turned into his side and rested her head on his chest.

It was weird how well she fit against him, like a piece sliding into place, her red hair falling over his arm and shoulder like the softest blanket. “Are you cold?” she mumbled against his chest.

He tugged her a little closer. “Nah, I’m good.”

Vox Machina popped into Whitestone the next day with the help of Keyleth’s magic and as a group they headed towards the castle, but Grog stopped in the middle of the square and looked up.

Keyleth stood next to him and looked up as well. “See any vampires?”

He chuckled but shook his head. “You know, I wasn’t really up on telling time before, but all this jumping around from place to place is really fucking me up.”

Keyleth laughed. “I’ve honestly given up at this point. Come on, to the war room we go.”

They all made their way through the castle and down to the ziggurat where a handful of people were waiting for Vox Machina to arrive. It fucking baffled him every damn time. Not too long ago they were going around busting heads for gold and now some of the most important people in the word were waiting for them.

People and dragons, he corrected himself as he felt Keyleth stiffen as the large green dragon came into view.

Looking down, he saw her lips tighten and could all but feel the rage building up inside of her. He reached out and put his big hand on the back of her neck and let the weight of it rest against her skin. “You going to be okay in there?”

She seemed to breathe easier so he left his hand where it was as they stopped for a moment. “If I go after her, will you hold me back?”

Grog considered the question and finally nodded. “Yes, but only because magic doesn’t work down there, otherwise I’d be going after her right along with you.”

From their vantage point he could see Raishan, big and lethal, the whites of her eyes nearly black from whatever disease was slowly killing her. Grog squeezed the back of Keyleth’s neck gently to get her attention back on him. “She looks worse, if that makes you feel better.”

Keyleth smiled up at him. “It does actually, thanks.”

He ran his hand down her back, “Let’s get this fucking thing over with.”

For Grog, the meeting was mostly pointless. He wasn’t what anyone would call intelligent, but he knew what his job was. Wherever Vox Machina ended up, he was supposed to hit the biggest thing in the room, and he was more than happy with that.

An hour later they all got up and started heading towards their various jobs. Vex was off to track down Zahra, Vax was to Gilmore, and Keyleth had reluctantly agreed to talk to Kashaw. He’d have teased her about it if her face wasn’t already redder than a tomato.

They’d found him training outside the castle and Grog had glowered from a distance as Keyleth sputtered out an apology, but it would seem the brash paladin had his eyes focused elsewhere. As soon as Keyleth mentioned Zahra, Kashaw had agreed to go.

“She’s hiding something,” Keyleth said as soon as she was back with him. By unspoken communication they headed back inside the castle and towards his room.

“Who is hiding something?” He asked as she chewed on her lip. “Raishan? Yeah, no shit.”

“I mean about Thordack, about whatever he’s building.”

Grog had caught something about that. “You think she knows what it is?”

“She knows, or she suspects,” Keyleth allowed. “Raishan is the kind of person who likes to know things.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Grog joked as he opened his door and let Keyleth walk in first. “Is it something you want to look into more?”

Her face twisted in thought, but after a moment she threw up her hands in defeat. “Honestly, I don’t know if it would make much a difference. I just don’t like the idea of her knowing things we don’t. It makes me twitchy.”

“Makes sense,” he dropped his bag on the table and added his axe to it as Keyleth looked around the room.

“If you have a Grog sized bed, and Grog sized chairs, does that mean you have a Grog sized tub as well?”

The instant Keyleth mentioned a tub a dozen thoughts flitted through his mind, every one of them was a good one. “Can’t say as I’ve ever paid attention. Why?”

“Because I want take a bath before we go to bed.”

As they had left the war room Vex had sidled up to him and asked him if he was jealous about Keyleth going to see Kashaw, but Grog had never felt much in the way of jealousy, didn’t see a need for it. Either he had what he wanted or he didn’t, and right this moment Keyleth was in his room taking off her leathers and boots while she used cantrip after cantrip to fill up his bathtub with boiling hot water.

There wasn’t a damn thing to be jealous about. “You’re going to cook yourself in that.”

She grinned as she pulled at the threads holding her dress together and stepped out of it. “That’s the plan. Want to join me?”

Grog shook his head and leaned against the doorway to the little bath chamber. She was blushing from head to toe. “I like the view from here.”

“Whatever you say,” Keyleth snorted as she slid into the water, hissing at how hot it was.

She dunked her head beneath the surface and came back up with drops of water skating down her skin. He didn’t know much about math, but he was beginning to wonder if he had time for a ravishing before they had to do everything that needed to be done.

Grog walked over to the edge of the bathtub and sat down, reaching into the water to wrap his fingers around Keyleth’s ankle, his thumb brushing against the skin there.

Her voice was soft as she watched him. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, can’t promise I’ll know the answer though.”

She pulled her hair over her shoulder, nervously braiding it. “I’ve never done anything like this before, so I don’t know what the rules are.”

“You’re talking about us?” She nodded and dropped her hair, the ends of it swirling in the water. “In that case, I’ve never done anything like this either.”

“So, if I ask if we’re exclusive, I won’t sound like an idiot?”

“Maybe a little,” he answered, softening the answer with a smile. He put his hand on either side of the side of the tub and leaned forward so he was all but crowding her in the tub. “You should know by now, Keyleth, I’m not much for sharing.”

“Good, because I don’t think I’d be good at sharing either.”

Grog leaned forward just enough to kiss her, unable to resist running his hand along the droplets decorating her arm. “You know what you should do after you kill Raishan?”

“What’s that?”

He looked up from her bare skin to her bright green eyes. “Turn her into armor.”

Those eyes lit up and she clapped, sloshing water onto the floor as she sat up straighter. “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

Grog laughed at her exuberance. “You’re a little bit blood thirsty, you know that?”

“I’m aware.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice as if she was telling a secret and someone might overhear. “But I was kind of hoping no one else would notice.”

“Fat chance of that,” he told her. “Like recognizes like.”

“Are you saying you recognized my rage?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“I think I recognized you too.”

“My love of animals?” he asked, taking on the fancy voice he used when he referred to his very important title.

She smiled but shook her head, bringing her hand out of the water to link her fingers with his. “No. Your wisdom.”

Grog rolled his eyes and knew he wasn’t the type of person to blush, but his cheeks still felt oddly hot. “I’m not wise, Kiki.”

“You are,” and she said it with such certainty she didn’t leave him any room to argue. “Vex cornered me earlier, to talk about the hickey.”

“It’s almost gone,” and he was already planning how he’d replace it and where. It’d be boring to do it in the same place each time.

She reached up and touched the place where his mark was barely visible against her pale skin. “She said it seemed like it came out of nowhere. DO you want to know what I told her?”

His big heart beat harshly against his ribs, and it felt a bit like when he came out of a rage; just a little unsteady and weak. Normally he hated that feeling, and he didn’t like it much now, but there was the hint of anticipation between heartbeats. “Sure.”

Keyleth looked at his hand as if the scars on his knuckles were interesting. “Back home, on the mountain top, you can see the sun rising from the first moment. Dark blue to indigo to burgundy to orange; the sun never catches you by surprise up there.”

She took a deep breath and looked at him, their gazes locking in a way which made it hard to think of a reason why he’d look away. “But down in the valley it’s different, the mountain range blocks everything so you’re in the darkness hours after the sun has risen on Zephyr and then, suddenly, it’s daylight. With absolutely no warning. That’s all to say, just because I didn’t see this coming, doesn’t mean the sun wasn’t rising the whole time.”

Grog stood up and her eyes went wide, but he didn’t take the time to figure out what she might be thinking. Intent on his purpose he stepped into the bath without giving her any warning, grinning as she laughed.

“You’re going to flood the bathroom,” she scolded, but she was still giggling as he leaned forward and kissed her. This was no friendly peck, no frantic caress. Grog wouldn’t have used the words out loud, but when he pressed his lips to hers there was joy in it, in the touch of her fingers on his beard.

He’d been born into anger, had nearly died from it as a kid, and he’d learned to use it so it could never use him.

It hadn’t occurred to him that anyone would see that rage and not only accept it, but understand it.

And somehow this druid, this fragile looking woman with big eyes and a bigger heart, was the one to see him. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “Percy’s rich, he can afford it.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she agreed and pulled him down into the warmth of the water and her arms.

#grogleth #grog strongjaw #keyleth #critical role #cr fic

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fuwafuwamedb · 5 years ago

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Mudi Kuno Pt 9 (Hakuno, Gilgamesh, Rin, Cu)

Previously: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight

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“The wrong seat?” Rin looked over at Gilgamesh, blinking in surprise. “Where would you have a Mudi typically sit?”

That was a funny question, considering a good number of them were frauds that he would have had sit in the midst of the stables or perhaps in the depths of the Euphrates. Normally, there would not be a Mudi in his ziggurat, let alone in his dining hall.

However, the maiden adorned in golden jewelry and precious fabrics from the Uruk people was different. To call her a Mudi was truly an underestimation of her capabilities.

“The king must mean that I was going to sit in my chambers to have the meal,” Hakuno dared to tell these two fools. Her bright smile was like that of many of his officials, genuine enough to cut down the questions and her word to be taken as true yet not genuine enough to pass his review. The two on the other side of the table began to tell her of their fortune, thanking her here and there as they went.

Even more, the two seemed pleased to simply accept that he stood there behind her and was waiting for the opportunity to point out the woman’s fate.

The golden headdress made the hints of lighter color amongst that brown stand out under the torchlight. Her bare shoulders and their fabric hanging from near her neck left him a great opportunity to slip his hands underneath to find what her person would feel like against his.

How easily he could take her here.

No one would argue. The guards would move the guests and the people from the audience chamber, bringing them to the exits and informing them to have a good evening. The servants would ensure that the doors were closed and that a clear path would be between him and his bedroom. He had no doubt that they’d go the extra mile and set up his bedroom, stoking the fire and pulling back the sheets for when they would arrive.

Hakuno, herself, would be the problem.

The woman was hot and cold with him right now. Her body was fine with the touches, the caresses, and any and all attention that he was willing to give her. If anything, she seemed to hover closer to him at times, her face pressing to his chest on the ride back to Uruk. Her words and her decisions said that pursuing her so quickly would end badly.

Fool that he was, he’d given her the upper hand in this courtship. He now had the task of making her burn for him. He needed to make her want to come to him.

It was unfortunate, but not impossible, scenario.

Gilgamesh settled into the seat beside Hakuno, motioning for more of the food and drink to be brought forth. When the woman poured herself some liquor, he swapped it for juice.

“What are you-“

“You need to be level headed.” He drank the liquor she’d poured and waited until the next time she poured a cup.

Once again, to the amusement of that foolish guard Cu Chulainn, he swapped Hakuno’s cup and gave her another glass of juice to drink.

“I won’t get drink off one glass.”

“I don’t care.”

Another glass.

He downed it.

Another?

The woman narrowed her eyes, releasing the glass a moment before she would have touched his hand.

“I am fully capable of handling the liquor,” she growled at him.

“Considering the work that you have in store for you, you will not drink.” He would see to that. His fools who had brought him to his soon to be spouse nodded a bit.

“He has a point, Mudi,” Rin pointed out. “Drinking puts you in a bit more danger.”

Good gods, but she pouted. The fainted sign of a pout formed on the woman’s lips, followed by her sighing and moving to stand.

“I should get some rest. It has been a long day.”

“Wai-“

She didn’t wait. Fortunately, neither did Siduri. The woman was rushing after Hakuno, directing her on where she would go now that she was finished.

“It’s a shame,” Rin told Cu Chulainn. “The Mudi really loves sweets. I remember her getting into a bit of an argument over some butter cake made by one of the elders.”

“She will be fine,” Gilgamesh told the two.

Rin had given him the perfect reason to visit Hakuno.

#drabble #drabbles

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out-of-this-dimension · 5 years ago

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Planet Biome and Environment Headcanons - Part IV

Venom is evidenced to have been a versatile planet prior to some catastrophe that struck it eons ago, before recorded time. Its regions can be broken down into two very distinct biomes-- the volcanic wastelands and the toxic jungles. Rife with carnivorous plants, the toxic jungles of Venom are arguably the most deadly aspect of the planet’s hostile biome. Thriving in the toxic air that radiates from the planet’s damaged soil, vividly hued flora and fauna alike make their homes in the thick of the jungles, which contains trees so ancient that their branches are often used as a sort of canopy-level highway for the natives. Volcanic wastelands dot the continents, the soil varying from bloody red to midnight black. Lava pits are an often sight in these areas, which can easily claim an inattentive traveler. Venom’s continents are broken up by an ocean, which is said to radiate with a potent toxicity that can peel skin off of bone if proper protection measures are not taken. Withered, ruined colonies bearing the Cornerian logo can be found scattered here. No scientist dares speak of why that is the case.

Animus is a primal land teeming with life. Although the planet itself is quite small, its vast mountain ranges and thick evergreen forests feel as though they stretch forever. It is said that a thousand nations rose and fell on this planet but looking at its sprawling wilderness, it is hard to determine how factual that statement is. It is thought that perhaps some of the oldest kingdoms recorded to have existed dwell beneath the planet’s surface, but no exploration attempts have uncovered anything substantial. As the oldest stories go, this is the planet in which all life sprung forth. Some clans still dwell here, caught between the modern age and traditions that have been passed down for over a millennia. Ice caps sit on the north and south poles. Most of the planet is cold but along its equator rests a series of islands that one might consider tropical.

Cerinia is a planet of sparking energies that seep into its flora and fauna, adorning them with vivid colors. Everything about this planet is otherworldly and teems with magic. The denizens of this planet are attuned to the mystical nature of this place and work with it to survive. White, pink, and red-flowered trees are common in the southern lands. The beaches have white sand and the water is clear as crystal. To the north in the forests, the land is filled with glistening mist and icicle-ridden caverns. The golden pyramids and ziggurats that dot the lands are timeless, crafted by hands long ago in devotion to gods that most of Lylat has long forgotten.

Aparoid Homeworld was a world whose original name had long been lost. Abandoned highways and skyscrapers covered the planet’s surface, the structures overwritten by aparoidedation. It is said the roads there had eyes when the Queen still lived, and that nothing ever traveled there without her knowing its exact location. It is not known if the aparoids constructed the planet-wide city themselves or if they found it, taking it over in brutal conquest as was their way. The core of the planet was hollowed out, its center crafted into a nest for the Queen. Careful observation of planet remains revealed that the planet itself seems to have traits similar to the decaying aparoid soldiers left over from the invasion. Perhaps the planet itself was an aparoid...?

#cerinia #animus #venom #aparoid homeworld #aparoid #headcanons #planet headcanons #gifs #star fox #starfox #animus is from dinosaur planet fyi

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hypexion · 5 years ago

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A Pile of Fanwalkers (Part 2)

Part two of me posting a bunch of “OCs“, since actually working out a better way to organise and present is this information is clearly too much effort. Despite the fact I’m putting what could be charitably described as an amount of work into these posts.

The basic format for each planeswalker will be a Name/Colour Identity/Pre-Ignition Typeline/Homeplane blob of information, a quickish description of them and some “fun“ facts, and then some hits and misses for extra flavour. Also, I’m going to split this into three posts - “Heroic“, “Okay“ and “Villians“, for I believe I have the moral authority to judge my creations.

Also some of these are going to be from fanplanes, which will go undescribed beyond whatever tidbits come out the character flavour. Others will just have a ?, representing a lack of knowledge and/or sufficent worldbuilding. With that out of the way, let’s go!

Okay

Not everyone is actively Heroic, and that’s okay. Generally, this lot might not want to help you out, but they’re unlikely to ruin your day just for the sake of it. Of course, some might offer to help if their skills are a match for the situation, or if they stand to benefit. And some of them might be a little rude, but they generally won’t murder you.

Ferroxi - BGU, Faerie Artificer, ? - While other fae are luring you around in circles, trapping you in an eternal sleep, or stealing your name, Ferroxi is probably rummaging through your recycling looking for useful stuff. Born on a plane piled with interplanar scrap, she learned at a young age the value in taking things apart and occationally putting them back together again. Ferroxi sees the wastefulness of other planes as her gain, and is always on the look out for anything that can be fixed up, melted down or repurposed. This doesn’t stop at the physical, either. With a bit of work, she’s managed to keep a few Infinite Consortium cells spinning, as a way to provided access to resources she’d otherwise have trouble obtaining. Ultimately, Ferroxi brings her finds back to her clan, where she is considered a peerless salvager, able to seemingly conjure resources from nothing.

Ferroxi has hair she self-describes as “rust coloured“ and brown skin. Being a Faerie, she’s just over a foot tall. But don’t underestimate her. Just because her weapon of choice looks like a sewing needle, it doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you. Of course, she also has access to all the various fae tricks, so getting into a fight with her is generally going to end her favour. Just let Ferroxi have your old lightbulbs, okay? When she planeswalkers, she disappears into a puff of rust dust. Don’t breath that! (Generally you shouldn’t breath planeswalking auras, but the metal oxides to be especially avoided.)

Hits: Recycling, Izzet technology, Moxen, white and gold bordered cards. Misses: Izzet security, large animals, things that can’t be repaired or reused.

Mazamat - UB, Human Wizard, Akkyria - For Mazamat, death is merely a setback. After each defeat she rises again, a new body forged from mana in her ziggurat. As a mortal scholar, her fame was not enough to enjoy the immortality Akkyria offered it’s most renowned. So through careful research, she discovered an alternative, a way to tie her life force to the leylines that shaped her world. She divised a ritual, and performed it to perfection. And in seeking eternal life, she found something far greater. For Mazamat was born long before The Mending. Her ignition gave her powers beyond bound. Even with a fractional of her strength sequestered as an anchor for her soul, Mazamat was a force to be reckoned with. She mastered lifetimes of magics, slew gods, and accidentally created a few highly dangerous artifacts. Unfortunately, even without meeting Urza, Mazamat was affect by his ruinous influence. The Mending weakened her. Enough that it was now the majority of her strength that anchored her to Akkyria. This made planewalking fatal. But for Mazamat, death is merely a setback. No Lich forgets their Phylactery, and Mazamat did not forget the mechanics of her undeath. While the first sucessful test walk only worked because of the Interplanar Beacon, it provided Mazamat all she needed to write a new ritual, and continue her endless study.

Often, Mazamat isn’t hard to miss. It’s difficult to ignore the walking corpse with glowing purple eyes, even you’d prefer to. She could put more effort into looking presentable, given her wide magical knowledge, but generally considers it optional. When she does wish to tidy up her appearance, she tends to appear as she did in the middle of her mortal life. In this case, she has brown skin and grey-black hair, which she ties back into a bun to get it out of the way. She also dampens the eye-glow effect, although they still take on a purple hue. Mazamat tends to dress in the classical “Robed Wizard“ look, ardorned with various magical symbols. Mazamat’s planeswalking effet is a pulse of pale blue light, occationally leaving behind short-lived inscriptions on nearby surfaces.

Hits: Mastering skills, advising adventurers (who bring the appropriate tribute), a kind of savory cake served with honey and dried fruits. Misses: Dying (it’s still not fun, even if you come back), Nicol Bolas, Urza, whoever started the rumor that flying snakes could be found near her ziggurat, because now she can’t get rid of the things, being stuck on a plane.

Pyrolas - R, Dragon, Ithmorne - Many planeswalkers are subtle. Many are careful. Pyrolas is neither, because Pyrolas is a red dragon. When presented with a problem, they consider fire and fury to be an acceptable solution. As dragons go, Pyrolas is considered implusive and quick to act. This is good for the non-dragons living with their domain, as it means Pyrolas tends to deal with problems such as bandits within a week. Meaning you might actually have a home to go back to. Pyrolas is also less than interested in the ever-shifting politics of the Draconic Confedracy, prefering to get their excitement from visting other planes, or comissioning sweet new artworks. Like many dragons on their homeplane, Pyrolas graciously allows non-dragons to use the singular they when referring to them. This is nice, because in Ithmorne Draconic, pronouns are also honorifics, and using the wrong one can range from “slightly rude“ to “mortal insult“ (it’s also nice because some of them are very hard to pronounce if you aren’t a dragon).

Dragons on Ithmorne tend towards being more slender, and Pyrolas is no exception. However, unlike a certain dragon whose name has been misplaced, they all still look dragony. Pyrolas has red scales, except on the underside of their wings, where they are a more goldish colour. Since they’re a dragon, they don’t carry weapons. Rather, Pyrolas is the weapon, capable of spewing flame, clawing rocks to pieces and able to crush puny humanoids in their grasp. Thankfully, Pyrolas is a kind of “take it easy“ dragon, so you need to try pretty hard to provoke them. When they planeswalk, flames pour from their mouth and engulf them, followed by Pyrolas disappearing. This takes a little while, so they tend to do it while flying out of the way of danger.

Hits: Flying around, treasure, the fine arts, hosting tournements. Misses: Really cold places, dragon slayers, missing out on the chance to claw Bolas in his stupid dumb face, that time they went to Ixalan.

Tanzor - GUR, Shapeshifter, ? - Do you ever wonder how the multiverse fits together? Tanzor does, and they've embarked on the most ambitious planar cartography projection in the multiverse to work it out. Of course, along the way, they’ve picked up a number of other projects. These include subjects such as planar topology, monitoring aether currents, and tracking planes that have been inflicted by Phyrexians (thanks, Karn). Most recently, Tanzor has been investigating the aftershocks from the deaths of Kozilek and Ulamog, and the appearance of temporal anomalies around Tarkir. And with the possibility of more Planar Bridges being constructed, they could soon have a whole new set of issues on their hands. Or claws. Or tentacles. When you’re a changeling, it’s sometimes hard to keep track. When in doubt, check what the person you’re reflexively copying has. (When in a group of three or more people, Tanzor generally exerts concious control over their shapeshifting, as not to freak people out).

Describing Tanzor’s physical appearance is difficult, since as a changeling, it tends to shift around a lot. When changing form, it appears that their underlying changeling colour is dark blue, however. For simplicity, let’s just say they’re friend-shaped. When Tanzor planeswalkers, their form dissippates, and they appear to collapse into a single point.

Hits: Being able to be anything, wings/fins/toxins on demand, high vantage points, advanced eyeball techniques. Misses: Being asked why they can’t shapeshift into a form that isn’t injured, Phyrexians, whoever was the latest one to screw up the multiverse (currently: Bolas, previously: Gatewatch, Ugin/Sarkhan, and others).

Xand - BR, Human Rogue, Ravnica - Xand likes to introduce himself as a cultist of wealth and taste. Which is not entirely inaccurate. He’s a member of the Cult of Rakdos, he’s got money to burn, and he’s very concerned about food. But don’t mistake Xand for some regular glutton, looking to gorge on endless plates of substandard junk. Xand has standards. Out of a dozen recipes, even after days of refinement, only a few will make it to the menu of his bar - which is an unusually “classy“ environment for a Rakdos run business. Sure, you won’t find any Azorius, Selesnya or Ozhov patrons there, and higher ranked guild members tend to avoid the it, but it’s a decent place to grab a meal or a drink. And for the fancier members of Ravnican society, there’s always Café Xand, which features table cloths, a wine list and a krasis of the day. And with the countless flavours of the multiverse available to him, Xand is always looking to expand the menu.

Xand has pale brown skin and shoulder-length black hair. Like any self-respecting Rakdos cultist, he dresses in loud, colourful robes, often patched together from previous robes that didn’t survive whatever manic Rakdos event Xand was last at. He also has a surprisingly well kept set of chef’s clothing, as likes to ensure only the right ingredients get used when he’s cooking. For personal defense (and offense), Xand carries knives. Lots of knives. Too many knives, perhaps, even when you factor in his excuse that “you never know when you might need to cut a cake, or dice some vegetables”. He’s also pretty good at using Rakdos “hype magic” to disorient his foes, since it turns out that feeling a bunch of conflicting emotions at once is really distracting. When he planewalks, Xand disappears in a burst of dark flame, which leaves a pleasant, yet unidentifiable scent.

Hits: Good food, fine wine, various parties, visiting Valor’s Reach. Misses: Canibbalism, bar fights in his bar, Orzhov insurance rates, not being able to get the right spices, people calling him Alexander.

Look at all these nice...ish people. None of them would be into Gatewatching, but they’re also not making things worse. Tanzor might be willing to help out if they’re in the right place, and if you can appeal to her self-interest, Mazamat might teach you something useful. But with the others, their self-interest is probably going to overcome their altruism most of the time. Of course, the multiverse also has some rather more... antagonistic planewalkers, but that’s for next time.

#fanwalker #magic the gathering #fan character february

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magicunessay2020-blog · 5 years ago

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Astrological Timeline

Early Influences

4242 BCE Egyptian calendar is one the first calenders in use, marking 12 months made of 30 days, with a year consisting of 360 days. 4000 BCE The basic concepts of astrology are first utilized in Mesopotamia. The Ziggurat at Uruk, Ur and Babylon, built by the Sumerians, are the first astrological observatories in the world, where early astrologers kept track of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets that they could see.

3000 BCE Egyptian calendar is revised to 365 days.

2872 BCE Sargon of Akkad, the first ruler of the Akkadian empire, is one the first to use astrologer priests to predict the future.

1200 BCE The Babylonians invent the written first systematic astrological system over thousands of years. The records survive in the form of the Babylonian star catalogs, making Babylonian astrology the oldest astrological system on Earth.

One of the earliest compilations is the Enūma Anu Enlil; meaning “When the Gods Anu and Enlil…” It is composed of approximately 70 astrological tablets, which include around 7000 predictions. The Babylonian astrological system was very omen-oriented, and such records were kept to predict the state of the king and the nation as a whole.

1000 BCE The MUL.APIN, was compiled, which consisted of the most significant star lists in Babylonian astrology. It contained 71 stars and constellations as well as their rising and setting times. The stars were also associated with specific deities. The Babylonians originally listed 17-18 constellations, but in later revisions, the number of constellations was reduced to 12 major ones. Many believe copies of the tablets carried astrology from Babylon to India, sometime between 400 and 300 BCE.

Babylonians recognized five planets—Jupiter associated with God Marduk, Venus with Goddess Ishtar, Saturn with Ninurta, Mercury with Nabu and Mars with Nergal.

The 12 Babylonian Astrological Signs

GU.AN.NA – Heavenly Bull, The Bull of Heaven (Taurus)

MASH.TA.BA – Twins, The Great Twins (Gemini)

AL.LUL – Pincers, Crayfish (Cancer)

UR.GU.LA – Lion, The Lion (Leo)

AB.SIN – Daughter of Sin, The Seed-Furrow (Virgo)

ZI.BA.AN.NA or GISH.ERIN – Heavenly Fate, The Scales (Libra)

GIR.TAB – That Which Claws And Cuts, The Scorpion (Scorpio)

PA.BIL.SAG – Defender, The Overseer (Sagittarius)

SUHUR.MASH – Goat-Fish, The Goat-Fish (Capricorn)

GU.LA – Lord Of Waters, The Great One (Aquarius)

SIM.MAH – Fishes, The Tails, Swallow Tail (Pisces)

LU.HUNG.GA – Field Worker (Aries)

700 BCE The present day zodiac wheel was shaped by the wheel that the Babylonians created

549 BC Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid king of Persia, conquered Babylon.

572-490 B.C.E. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, identifies the wisdom embodied within numbers, and theorizes that numbers are important to the universe, and they come together in harmony to create the world that we see. He was one of the first to refer to the universe as the Cosmos. His ideas were the foundation for the Pythagorean Theorem. His theory solidified the mathematics and science behind the planetary aspects that are used today. His ideas influenced some of the greatest philosophers in history.

535 BCE Pythagoras sets up a colony to learn about astrology, numerology and the occult arts - the Brotherhood.

475 BCE. Empedocles replaces the theory of matter with the theory that all of the substances derive from the four elements: fire, air, water and earth - which are the basic principles of developing astrological interpretations used today. He theorized that nothing can be created or destroyed, only transformed.

428-348 BCE. Plato's Timeus (360 BCE) identifies the universe as a living entity, composed of four elements (air, fire, water, earth) which distinguish each form by their molecular structure, although all four elements are interconnected and interrelated in a perfect harmonious form.

460 BCE. Hippocrates used earlier astrological and universal principles laid before him, and applied them to the study of the human body in relation to the rhythms observed within the universe as a whole.

409 BCE The oldest known horoscope chart is created

370 BCE Eudoxus of Cnidus invented a model of twenty-seven concentric spheres by which he was able to calculate the sun's annual motions through the zodiac, the moon's motion including its wobble, and the retrograde motions of the planets (27 Spheres, one for the fixed stars, three each for the Sun and Moon and four for each of the five planets). He created calendars using the zodiac with all 12 equal zodiac signs.

331 BCE Alexander the Great conquers Babylon and establishes the city of Alexandria. Under his rule, the Greeks further advances in astrology, along with developments in medicine, geometry, mathematics, and philosophy - furthering on the theories put forth by Pythagoras, Plato, Hippocrates, and Aristotle.

330 B.C.E. Berossus a Babylonian/Chaldean astrologer founds the School of Astrology at the Island of Cos. Many Greek astrologers learned and taught there.

330 BCE Alexander the Great spreads the knowledge of astrology throughout the Middle East. Greece personalizes astrology. The word astrology itself is derived from the Greek word for "star," and the word zodiac which means “the circle of animals.” The Greeks borrowed some of their myths from the Babylonians and invented many of their own, such as adding the names of their heroes to the constellations. The animals representing the signs were placed among the stars usually for great acts of heroism, and were usually associated with the Greek gods. The Greek words were translated to the Latin words that are used today.

290 BCE The legendary Alexandria becomes the center of astrological research. 250 BCE Achinapolus and Antipatrus teach medical astrology based on the teachings of Berossus. They begin to experiment with natal horoscopes.

207 BCE Galen, a Greek physician, combines the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates, building upon them to create a functional system, for human anatomy and medical theories. He built upon Hippocrates earlier theory, that health requires an equilibrium between the four main bodily fluids, or humours—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Each of the humours is built up from the four elements and displays two of the four primary qualities: hot, cold, wet, and dry. He was one of the first to argue that humoral imbalances can be located in specific organs, as well as in the body as a whole. This modification of the theory allowed doctors to make more precise diagnoses and to prescribe specific remedies to restore the body’s balance.

200 BCE Astrology for predicting the future appears in Rome.

Papyrus with Greek Horoscope of Anubion Son of Psansnos , 2nd century CE, from Thebes, Egypt, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Antiquités égyptiennes

100 BCE The Essenes develop the Qabbalah and esoteric astrology.

60 BCE First school of astrology opens in Rome.

7 BCE The birth of Christ is predicted by three Magi astrologers, using a star. 150 CE Ptolemy, a Greek astrologer and mathematician published the Tetrabiblos, which was one of the most revered astrology works ever written. The Tetrabiblos contained the core techniques of astrology including planets, zodiac signs, houses, and aspects, which are still relevant and heavily used today. 400 CE The Library of Alexandria containing many of the world’s texts on astrology is destroyed.

474 CE European astrology in decline after the Fall of the Roman Empire. 600 CE The Church condemns astrology and tries to suppress it. 639 CE Egypt is invaded and taken over by the Islamic Empire. This marks the end of the Hellenistic astrological tradition. 750 CE Muslim astrologers revive Greek astrology.

787-886 CE Arabic astrologer Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi writes the Kitab al-Madkhal al-kabir ila ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum (The Great Introduction). This was one of the most comprehensive astrology books written, that detailed scientifically, the astral influences on the material world, and the human body and life. The Great Introduction was translated into Latin first by John of Seville in 1133 CE.

801-873 CE The book De radiis stellicis (On the Stellar Rays) is written by Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, which further combines Galen’s work, with Arabic astronomy, setting a precedent for medical treatments using astrology.

~ 1000 CE. Majriti (pseudo name) composes the Ghayat al-Hakim (The Picatrix), whose fundamental objective is to teach its reader how to determine the appropriate astrological time to contact celestial spirits and then “draw down” their essence by inducing them into a talisman created with materials which are sympathetic/resonate to, that particular spirit.

A page from the Picatrix

~1000 CE. Ibn Yunis, Moslem astronomer, compiles the Hakamite tables of planetary motions at Cairo.

1020 CE. Firdausi, or Abul-Qasim Mansur, Persia's epic poet, writes the Sah-Namah of over 60,000 couplets, containing many astrological references.

Kitāb al-tafhīm li-awā’īl ṣinā‘at al-tanjīm, Biruni, 11th century

~1114-1187 CE. Gerard of Cremona translates the Crises and the Critical Days from Arabic to Latin, allowing these great works to influence the educational climate of the time.

1200 CE The University of Bologna that was established in 1088 CE, becomes the center for learning medical astrology.

~1240-1311 CE. Arnald of Villanova wrote De iudiciis astronomiae, in which he wrote an influential treatise on the application of astrology to medicine. He combined Arabic teachings with Galen’s Critical Days, and used them to determine many methods of treating patients.

1250 CE Ancient magic and astrology is linked in the Speculum Astronomiae by Roger Bacon.

1255 CE Astrology is taught at Cambridge University in England. During this time Astrology is considered a science of the higher class, and many royals had court astrologers, and relied on them for predictions and medical advice. 1280 CE Johannes Campanus, an Italian astrologer and physician works for Pope Urban IV and develops a new way to divide astrological houses. ~1300 CE Almanacs (calenders) that contained star charts were employed by physicians, which allowed them to check the positions of the stars before making diagnoses. The book contained diagrams of the the body, and its corresponding star sign.

1399 CE Almanac diagram of the ‘Zodiac Man’

Diagram from a 1486 CE Medical Almanac

1400 CE The printing press is invented which allows mass production of astrological writings to be distributed in Europe. The Vatican promotes the instruction of astrology, with many Popes that were astrologers, and many served royal families in England, Italy, France and Austria.

1555 CE Andrew Dygges publishes A Prognostication, Manuscript on Medical Astrology in London, which became widely used by physicians. It attributed the zodiac signs to the specific body parts and organs of the human body, usually depicted visually.

~1500s CE All over Europe, physicians were required by law to calculate the position of the moon before carrying out complicated medical procedures.

1603-1668 CE Placidus, a monk and mathematics professor, created the house division system used by astrologers today.

The renaissance period, marks the period of enlightenment, and ushers in a decline in the use of astrology as a science.

Solar Zodiologium – prognostications when the sun is in each of the signs of the zodiac. The writer offers advice related to daily life and health, matters that would readers would find useful in either the 15th century or the 21st.

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sakyunyu · 2 years ago

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continuing my XS1 adventures~ today we f i n a l l y left the tutorial ship and fought the first (?) boss 🎉 we watched KOS MOS threatened a ship's crew 😇 met ziggurat and rescued MOMO 🥺💗

ahahhahahah was late to my own stream today o h n o 😭💦 shhloluhitookanapandalarmdidntwentoff klf;sjdka; i'm so glad we did the audio/stream checks early/yesterday!! and finally fixed a weird echoing issue that was happening on the backend for zoa ; v;!! my mic was having some issues too ,,, but i resolved it last minute right before the stream started ahaha,,, scuffed beginning :^) i s2g streaming w/ audio is my nemesis

ANYHOWW!!!!!! we finally got past the tutorial ship :) fought the first (???) boss \ o / !!

today was very cutscene heavy, which was kinda nice though lololol,,, esp considering ..... this meme is.. literally how i feel when i wake up .... i am grateful for zoa's patience 🙏🙏🙏

ANYHOOWWWW gosh every KOS-MOS scene is so??? impactful ????? fklsdkajfak; i loved seeing her float thru space with her little coffin bed : ) hehe : ) and threatening the ship crew : ) LET HER IN, SHE'S COLD-!!! that punch went straight into my heart : )//// zoa was right.... i love her ahhaaha

it was nice to get introduced to more characters :> !!! gosh chaos has such fluffy hair i want to pet,,,,,,,, and he's such a good.. bean....

i rly liked this part where he was, well, deflecting (lol),,,, but he was talking about believing everyone has at least one skill they excel in :) somehow rly hits a note in me ahah..

we also got to meet zigguart!! :0000c his b00ba window shirt tho omg kas;dlkfa;ak; lol not me staring respectfully :^),,,,

this chapel was really cool to pass by (also hi item??? plz??) ... i rly enjoy seeing chapels in games??? idk..... haha maybe it's the .hack// influence in me . . . .

we also rescued MOMO \ o / !!!! after uhh getting punished by the game for ..... much of my greed and encounters with enemies oops i'm not very good at sneaking games ;;; im impatient and want to RUn ... kdfs;akas; such grief,,, used up all my healing items HAHAHAHH but at least he lived : )??????

&&MOMO has a skill called SHEEP BEAM !!!!! so cute...... excited to try it next time hehe ;v;//// i think she's adorable and deserves a happy meal ,,,,,,

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darrilshrugs-blog · 7 years ago

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Stick around a while

Summary: The de Rolo’s aren’t aging like regular people. Maybe all the magic and horror of their lives is catching up to them?

Writer’s note: This is a something I’ve worked on for a bit, and just wanted to get out of my head to clear space for other dumb things.

It isn’t until years after they have stopped adventuring that they notice anything is amiss with Percy and Cassandra. There is an accident during construction of what will one day be the new indoor marketplace while Percy and Vex are away from Whitestone. Luckily, no one is gravely injured, but there are some broken bones.

When they return, Percy checks in with the acting foreman. The regular foreman, Desmond, has had his leg broken by falling timber. Percy speaks with the man for quite some time before realizing that he knew him as a child - the man of late-middle age, grizzled and weathered, had been the son of the stablemaster at the castle.

Reassured from their discussion that the accident was a pure incident of materials failing under a heavy load, and not a flaw in his design, Percy tells Vex about the man, as they walk hand-in-hand to the castle.

Vex takes a brief look over her shoulder and remarks, “It’s nice that you remember him so fondly. Was he friendly with your older brother?”

“Julius? No, he was close to Ludwig and Cassandra, seeing as they were around the same age.”

Vex takes another glance back, and pats him on the forearm with the hand that isn’t currently holding his. “Darling, than you must be misremembering. That man looks to be ten years older than you, not some years younger. Perhaps you have the wrong man altogether, or he’s an older brother of the boy your recall?”

He walks silently with her for a few steps, letting her lead the way as he tries to remember more of his life before the Briarwoods. Some things have returned to him with total clarity that had been shrouded bits before, but others still hurt too much to examine too closely, or are still hazy with memories of blood, chains and unnatural smoke.

This is not one of them, he hadn’t thought. As he spoke with the man, he saw him clearly as a boy in his mind’s eye, sword-fighting with sticks in the courtyard with Cassandra, while Ludwig, playing the princeling in need of rescue, cheered her on.

But Vex must be right. The man just now had been beginning to stoop with age, his hairline had receded far back on his forehead, and his beard was laced with gray. His memory must be playing tricks on him.

Vex doesn’t think anything odd about the encounter with the acting foreman. She isn’t troubled by gaps in Percy’s memory from before. She’s grown used to some inconsistencies and some things that he just can’t recall at all. She knows as well that some memories and feelings hurt too much to dredge up or face head-on. Her thoughts run to the surprise flood of grief she feels every now and then, when she catches a sidelong glance at her reflection in a window and thinks it’s him, only to have everything flow back into her all at once, before she can steel herself against it.

That is, until she mentions it casually to Cassandra some days later. They watch from the walkway atop the interior wall as Percy and the children play in the snow. The younger ones have asked their father to help try to build a snow-bear, while the older ones, closing in on their teenage years, are attempting to bombard each other with high, arcing snowballs from opposite sides of the courtyard.

Cassandra gets the same far-away look in her eyes that Percival gets when searching his memory of his childhood. Vex is pleased to see the accompanying smile, hopefully as she remembers her victories over her playmate in their youthful sparring matches.

Cassandra, so much less guarded with her now, shares more detailed recollections of the man as a boy, and doesn’t seem overly concerned at Vex’ disbelief that a man who should be Cass’ age looks so much older.

“Life in Whitestone may be as good as it has ever been, but it is still hard, and takes a toll on those less fortunate than we.” As Vex nods, Cassandra adds,” Besides, Percival and I were white-haired before hitting our twenties,” She smiles with a mock-conceit that Vex, recognizes as one of the mannerisms that led her to fall madly in love with Percy, “and we de Rolo’s have always managed to age rather gracefully.”

More time passes. Percival and Cassandra enter their fifth decade of life. Brother and sister show the signs of human aging - a slowing metabolism adds a bit of weight to both, and their complexion gains some color from all the time in the Northern sun and cold. Friends use the more accurate descriptors of “healthy”, “no longer see-through”, “less, you know, ghostly?” or “not looking like they could be knocked over with a lil’ flick of me finger”.

Despite these signs, however, none can ignore that the de Rolo siblings are barely aging. Percy still has the reflexes and vitality that he possessed when he adventured across the world and the planes of existence. Cassandra is just as dedicated and sharp a guardian of her city as she was when forced into responsibility in her teens.

Vex’ahlia certainly appreciates every moment of her husband’s life, and begrudges none of his professional, or personal, vigor. She rarely flashes to the horror scenes of her memory - Percival, bloodied and stilled on the ground of Glintshore, or eviscerated at the feet of a slain green dragon. Cass in black armor, with Vex’s own arrow though her chest - but she will never forget them. She just prays that this is not another horror to be visited upon this poor family, her poor family.

The siblings and their family, friends and advisors cannot and do not ignore the situation. In private conversations with the few they trust, the de Rolo’s express their worries that some of the darkness they have battled in their lives has made them unnatural. Percy and Cassandra mull their encounters with the Briarwoods and their dark god-ling, and Percy frets anew on the possibility that he still carries some taint of the shadow-demon on his soul. Over months, visits from clerics, arcanists, scholars and priests give no indication of evil lingering on the siblings, putting most minds at ease.

The subjects of all this poking and prodding, however, are still de Rolo’s, and as such, they continue to carry this weight of worry with them. At the next Winter’s Crest, celebrated together this year in Westrun, mostly in the home Pike has inherited from her great-grandfather, Percy asks a favor of his diminutive friend.

They are sitting together, all but the children, in a familiar, magically-appropriately sized dining room on the last night of the trip when he asks. “Pike? Could you ask the Everlight if Cassandra and I could have an audience, if Keyleth were to agree to try to bring us to her?” He no longer hides his worries from his family, from any of them.

Unlike much of the family, Pike isn’t as taken aback by the suggestion as he expects her to be. He sometimes forgets how long he has known her, and how well she knows the way his thoughts can run. “I can ask, Percy, and I don’t mind trying. But we know there isn’t anything wrong with you two, if that’s what you want to ask her.”

“I know that’s what all the magic and holy prayers have said, but it isn’t normal, not that abnormal hasn’t been part of my life since ...” he doesn’t mention all the things that Pike knows he is thinking of saying.

Pike sits up somewhat from where she had been reclining by the fireplace. “Percy, I’m going to ask you and Cass a question. I have some experience with the Everlight and I have an idea of what she might ask you if we were to see her. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

“Are you happy?”

“Very much so.” His answer is immediate, without mulling it over or choosing his words carefully. That shows, more than the words themselves, how very far this Percy has come from the scared, secretive young man he was when they all first met; he has grown confident, trusting, open. His hand, on Vex’s shoulder as she rests against him in the armchair they share, pulls her closer.

“And is Cassandra happy?”

As focus turns to where Cassandra sits, Grog, who is sitting on the floor, brings his hand next to his mouth in an attempt to cover his lips. It is maneuver that is impossibly obvious, even for him. He whispers far too loudly to be considered whispering “Scanlan, is it even possible for that priss to ever be happy?”

The words barely leave his mouth before he reacts to a sharp elbow in his side. He bends to in fake pain and surprise over Cassandra, who has been leaning her back against his flank. Grog promptly receives a face-full of ale as the Lady of Whitestone’s other arm arcs up to toss the liquid in her cup over her shoulder at him.

“Apologies. I appear to have spilled my drink.” She says flatly as Grog sputters and the rest of the assembled group laughs.

The laughs die down a little, and Grog wipes his face, Percy returns his look to Pike and answers her “Yes, Pike, I believe my sister is happy.” Cassandra is nodding as she receives a refill.

Pike gather herself for a short speech, which is still not her usual style “I’m so happy for you both. You deserve to be happy. And after all that you two have been through, and all that we have seen and done together, do we need to particularly know why we will have you with us for longer than we initially thought?

“If it’s due to the number of times we revived the two of you, or some weird result of being near the ziggurat, or blessing from the Dawnfather, or the Everlight or the Raven Queen” She breaks from looking at Percy to scan the faces of the rest of them “Does it matter, that you’ll have more happy years with our family?”

This time, Percy does pause a few moments to consider. Not too long though, as he pulls Vex closer again against him, holds his cup out for a refill, and cracks a smile. “No it does not. You have always been the wisest of us. Thank you Pike.”

“My pleasure, Percy”

#critical role #critfic #percival de rolo #Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski De Rolo III #perc'ahlia #percahlia #cassandra de rolo #pike trickfoot #vex'ahlia #grog strongjaw

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cutepresea · 5 years ago

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2-8 One Winged Wielders: Song of Revenge

Again, sorry for the spam.

If you want to blacklist these, you can use either the tag #one winged wielders for just this event, or #xdu event scripts for all these posts in general.

Reminder that these are copied straight from XD Unlimited itself, so any grammatical weirdness, mistranslations, and/or mischaracterizations are not my doing.

Ryoko Sakurai: "Hmmm... I wonder what insights this chip contains? Oh, the researcher in me can't wait to find out!"

Maria: "Did you know anything about Ignite before now?"

Ryoko Sakurai: "Not really. Yours truly has been focused on researching the Karma Noise and creating the Gears, you know."

Ryoko Sakurai: "My theory is that the Karma Noise most likely have a trait that interferes with Ignite."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "So the problem is with the Karma Noise. You did mention it back then."

Ryoko Sakurai: "Yup! I hope you have a higher opinion of me now."

Hibiki Tachibana: "That's our Ryoko-san!"

Ryoko Sakurai: "Hehe. I wouldn't mind if you kept complimenting me, you know?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Anyway, are we right to assume that they can't use Ignite?"

Ryoko Sakurai: "Yes, that is the case."

Genjuro Kazanari: "So do you have a plan for the Karma Noise?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Ignite isn't the only trick up our sleeves."

Hibiki Tachibana: "That's right! Anything's possible with sheer willpower!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Willpower... Yeah, you're right! What's important is willpower!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yeah!"

Ryoko Sakurai: "Now then, I'll go check out this data. Hehe. I wonder what's inside."

Maria: "Wishful thinking aside, I think a more realistic solution would be to cooperate more in battle."

Maria: "This especially applies to a certain someone here."

Kanade Amo: "......"

Maria: "I know that there's something on your mind about Tsubasa, but let's be real here."

Maria: "We can't keep fighting the Noise one on one. We have to work together to take them out. I'm sure you know that."

Kanade Amo: "Yeah..."

Maria: "Very well. Then how about we all train together. Mutual understanding is the first step."

Kanade Amo: "Oh, fine."

Kanade Amo: "That should be enough. I know all your moves now."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh? Kanade-san...?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Wait, Kanade!"

Maria: "Tsubasa."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Maria...?"

Maria: "You stay here. Sometimes, it's better to have a third party deal with these things."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Okay..."

Maria: "Could you hold on a moment?"

Kanade Amo: "What do you want? Is it something to do with the me from the other side?"

Maria: "No, I wouldn't know a thing about that."

Maria: "You're the only Kanade Amo I know, though I have heard of your name before on the other side."

Kanade Amo: "I see..."

Maria: "Is your other self weighing you down?"

Kanade Amo: "That has nothing to do with you."

Maria: "Hey! Wait for me."

Maria: "Why're you in a place like this?"

Kanade Amo: "Just get off my back. Geez, why did you follow me all the way here?"

Kanade Amo: "......"

Kanade Amo: "You asked me if my "other self" was weighing me down?"

Maria: "Of course."

Kanade Amo: "I'm not sure. I don't know how Tsubasa interacted with the me from the other side."

Maria: "......"

Kanade Amo: "All I am is me, not some me from some other world. The Tsubasa from this world is the only Tsubasa I know."

Kanade Amo: "But there's still two of them..."

Kanade Amo: "There's that Tsubasa, but also the Tsubasa I knew. But my Tsubasa's already..."

Kanade Amo: "If I accept that girl as Tsubasa, then what happens to the real one who's already gone?"

Kanade Amo: "No matter how I think of it, I can't help but consider them different people."

Kanade Amo: "I'm scared that the Tsubasa I knew will disappear."

Maria: "So that explains why you've been giving her the cold shoulder."

Kanade Amo: "She isn't Tsubasa. If I don't shake the thought that she is, then I'll forget my Tsubasa."

Maria: "What would you say is your favorite memory of you and your Tsubasa?"

Kanade Amo: "The two of us, singing together as Zwei Wing. Having her by my side, singing our hearts out..."

Maria: "Funny you mention that, because in our world, Tsubasa's career really took off, and now she's world famous."

Maria: "I'm something of an artist myself on the other side. I've worked together with Tsubasa several times now."

Kanade Amo: "You've... worked with Tsubasa?"

Maria: "Yeah. We've sung duets on stage together at world-class music festivals."

Kanade Amo: "......"

Maria: "The girl's got real, honest talent. She keeps improving as a world-class artist with every step she takes."

Maria; "It's so much fun, getting to sing with her. I've never had a bad experience working with her."

Kanade Amo: "Yeah, I'm sure that's true."

Maria: "Don't you want to sing together with her?"

Kanade Amo: "Huh?!"

Maria: "Tsubasa is Tsubasa. Her songs are without peer. That's why everyone is so into her."

Maria: "Your Tsubasa may be gone, but no Tsubasa is fake. As long they don't lose their songs, they're all real." [1]

Maria: "So I'll ask you again. Don't you want to sing with her?"

Kanade Amo: "I do... Of course I want to sing with her, but I just can't! My only songs are those of destruction, now!!"

Kanade Amo: "How could I stand by Tsubasa's side like that?! I have no right to sing with her..."

Maria: "......"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Maria-kun, can you hear me? Ah, Kanade's with you, too. Excellent."

Maria: "What is it?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "We've picked up a Noise signal. Hurry and meet up at the rendezvous point."

Maria: "Understood."

Maria: "Shall we get going?"

Kanade Amo: "Yeah. Sorry for shouting at you..."

Maria: "Don't worry about it. I'm the one who started it. It's not your fault. You're wrong about one thing, though."

Kanade Amo: "...About what?"

Maria: "You can't lose a song. You can only forget it. Nothing can make a song leave your heart."

Kanade Amo: (I've... forgotten my songs?)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanade! Look out!"

Kanade Amo: "Huh...?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Ngh! Gaaaah!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanade, thank goodness..."

Kanade Amo: "Sorry..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Not to worry. There are only a few of them left. Let's take care of them."

Kanade Amo: (Tsubasa... I can hear her song... Even in battle, her song resonates with me...)

Kanade Amo: (I want to sing... to sing with her! But... Tsubasa, how can I...?) (scene change)

Kanade Amo: (This feels so familiar...)

Kanade Amo: (Am I dreaming?)

Kanade Amo: (This looks like that time when...)

Kanade Amo: "Mmm... yeah. Tsubasa?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Oh, thank goodness. You're awake!"

Kanade Amo: "Tsubasa... What's going on?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "See for yourself. A veritable hellscape... All thanks to that Noise..."

Kanade Amo: "What the... What IS that thing?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanade, can I ask you something?"

Kanade Amo: "Is this really the time, Tsubasa?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I want you to keep on singing, Kanade. I love you too much to allow you to let the song in your heart die."

Kanade Amo: "Tsubasa?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I won't let you get hurt. That's a promise."

Kanade Amo: "Hey! What the hell are you talking about?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal Emustolronzen fine el baral zizzl--"

Kanade Amo: "Stop! If you sing your Superb Song in your condition, you'll--"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal Emustolronzen fine el zizzl..."

Kanade Amo: "Cut it out! You've got to stop, Tsubasa!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Though my body may wither, I will protect this world, the innocent, and my special someone--now hear my song!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Yaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Kanade Amo: "Tsubasaaaaaa!"

Kanade Amo: "Tsubasa... She..."

Kanade Amo: "She used the last of her remaining strength to sacrifice herself, and take out that Noise."

Kanade Amo: "I couldn't do anything..."

Shinji Ogawa: "Are you really going to throw in the towel?"

Kanade Amo: "Yes. Without Tsubasa, there's no point in singing anymore."

Shinji Ogawa: "That's a shame."

Kanade Amo: "What are you going to do?"

Shinji Ogawa: "I'm not sure. Haven't decided yet."

Shinji Ogawa: "I guess my job as the manager of Zwei Wing is over. What about you, Kanade-san?"

Kanade Amo: "I'm going to get revenge for Tsubasa."

Shinji Ogawa: "Is that so? Then I wish you the best of luck."

Kanade Amo: (That's right. I don't need songs for anything other than battle.)

Kanade Amo: (I'm sorry, Tsubasa, but I need to avenge you. I know it's all for my own sake, but they have to pay.)

Kanade Amo: "There are still Karma Noise out there. I can avenge her... Heheh. Ahahahaha!"

Kanade Amo: "......"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Kanade, do you copy? Noise have appeared! Head to the site of the incident ASAP!"

Kanade Amo: "Yeah, I read you."

Kanade Amo: (I cast aside my songs for the sake of revenge... I turned my back on what Tsubasa would've wanted...)

Kanade Amo: (And so I can't think about being able to sing with her anymore. All I need are songs for revenge and battle.)

Kanade Amo: "Here they come!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Those are--Karma Noise!"

Maria: "There you are..."

Kanade Amo: "I've been waiting for this. This time, I'm gonna take you down!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Kanade-san?"

Kanade Amo: (Tsubasa would still be here if not for them. We could have followed our dreams, if not for those things.)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanade?!"

Maria: "Ngh! Just take it easy! You'll never reach that thing with this many Noise!"

Kanade Amo: "I need to kill it! It needs to be me to deliver to blow! I'll crush any Noise that get in my way!"

Kanade Amo: "That takes care of the pests! Now it's time for you to know Tsubasa's pain!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanade! Stop!"

Kanade Amo: "What?! How could I have miss--?!"

Kanade Amo: (When did it get so close?! It's no use. I can't avoid it...)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Kanadeeeee!"

Kanade Amo: (Tsubasa... I'm sorry...)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Don't you touch her!"

Kanade Amo: "Huh?! No way...!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Rgh! Gaaaah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Tsubasa-san?!"

Maria: "Tsubasa?!"

Kanade Amo: "Wh-Why did you protect me?! What are you doing?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Thank goodness... I wasn't too late this time... Ngh..."

Kanade Amo: "A-Are you in pain? Why would you try and protect me like--?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Because I can't just sit by and watch while you're in danger, Kanade."

Kanade Amo: "You stupid girl..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Sometimes there's something to gain from being a fool. I'd like you to fight alongside us, Kanade."

Kanade Amo: "Okay. I'll fight. But you just stay there and take it easy."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I can't do that just yet."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Not until we've taken care of that thing!"

Maria: "Ugh! It's regenerating?! We'll have to take things up a notch!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Hibiki! [2] It's time for S2CA! The power of our Superb Songs can annihilate this thing in one shot!”

Hibiki Tachibana: "But Tsubasa-san, your wounds--"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Foreget about them! The blade of a guardian cannot be bent so easily!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Got it!"

Kanade Amo: "Hey! What are you all doing?!"

Maria: "Keep that thing busy for a little while. Please."

Kanade Amo: "S-Sure thing."

Hibiki & Tsubasa & Maria: "Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal Emustolronzen fine el baral zizzl--"

Kanade Amo: "A Superb Song?! With three people at once?! What the...?!"

Hibiki & Tsubasa & Maria: "Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal Emustolronzen fine el zizzl--"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Set! Harmonics!"

Kanade Amo: "Whaaa?! What the heck is happening?!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Here we go! Yaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Did... Did we get it?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Yes... We got it!"

Maria: "Sure looks like it."

Kanade Amo: "So that's what Tsubasa and her friends are capable of..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "That's... Tachibana for you..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Tsubasa-san!"

Maria: "Tsubasa!"

Kanade Amo: "Hey, Tsubasa? Tsubasaaaaaa!"

Notes:

[1] They left out a word: "as long as"

[2] Another case of the translation making Tsubasa say Hibiki instead of Tachibana

#senki zesshou symphogear xd unlimited #symphogear xd unlimited #senki zesshou symphogear #symphogear #one winged wielders #xdu event scripts #xdu scripts

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istrys · 8 years ago

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The Vinterblot Pt 3

Rethandus often found himself toiling away in the smith during the late hours of the night. He found some measure of solace in the solitude of the forge, free from the judgemental stares of his newfound allies. He poured all of his anger into every hateful strike, bending the molten slabs of metal to his insatiable aggression. Although he struggled with his inner demons, his strikes were steady and his aim true, forging a graceful pattern inspired by his suffering. It was easy to lose himself in his thoughts like this, left to freely wander the labyrinth of his own mind. What would he do once he proved himself worthy to his master? How would he fight against the demons that clawed at his very soul, begging for anguish and agony? Could he truly be whole again, would it even be possible to make friends of his new allies? Or would the dangerous missions he was assigned to lead him further away from the Light, until he was someone - or something else? Doubt began to fester and thrive in the corners of his mind, but he couldn’t let despair grip his very being. Never again could he wrestle with thoughts of suicide, for the next time, he may not be so fortunate.

“Hello.” a timid voice caused his ears to perk up while he shifted his gaze to meet the stranger. A Quel’dorei woman stood at the edge of the smith, armor-clad in black steel and tightly clutching a bastard sword; she kept her distance from him, staring at him intensely with two soft blue eyes. “You’re Rethandus?”

“I am.” Rethandus stopped striking the ingot to inspect her, but he wasn’t really in the sociable mood; he had aggression to hammer out. It was strange to see a High Elf in a Horde encampment, but he wasn’t here to question anyone’s loyalty. “Can I help you…?”

“My name is Zion.” she quickly answered, sheepishly taking a step forward. “I was hoping you could repair my sword? It’s um. Broken.” The Harbinger narrowed his eyes at the woman, reluctantly gesturing her to approach; although he technically wasn’t the Bloodsworn Vanguard Blacksmith, nobody else had the experience to help her. Nobody awake at this hour, at least.

“You’re undead…?” He asked, perking a brow the moment he realized. Although her skin was pale, she was incredibly well-preserved; she could convince people she was still amongst the living with a little mascara and method acting. Zion gave him a few silent nods, seemingly embarrassed by such a question. “I… I’m sorry…” Rethandus stuttered, suddenly feeling extremely callous. “You being undead or not is none of my business.”

“You meant no offense.” Zion gave him a slight smile, offering her broken sword to him. “I was swinging it this morning and it. Um. Nearly slipped out of the hilt.” He pursed his lips while he stared deep into her eyes, shortly before returning to the present.

“This sword is of terrible quality.” He admitted, holding the blade aloft; a part of him wanted to sugarcoat the truth, but his pride in his own work compelled him to be as blunt as possible. “It looks like it’s been damaged for a long time. The blade itself is incredibly dull…”

“The only other blacksmith around here is the High Justicar.” she nervously explained herself, fidgeting with her gauntlets. “I was going to ask him to help. But. Um. He’s very. Uh. Intense.” Rethandus couldn’t deny Alucieus was intimidating, especially armed with the Holy Light; but as long as he kept his distance from the High Justicar and did his job, there was little to worry about. “I was trying to soothe my curse. You know… by killing things.” Zion kept her gaze on the broken sword, seemingly struggling with the right words to use. “It. Um. I hit a boulder. And it almost popped out.” Rethandus had a hard time imagining this woman chasing someone with a blade, but he didn’t want to ask too many provoking questions; if she really was killing innocent people, he wanted no part in it.

“So you swung at someone and missed?” The Harbinger asked, invoking her startled gaze.

“N-no. It was a deer.” She spoke dryly. “Um. A plagued baby deer. When I have to kill things to stop the ache, I always search for animals already suffering. By ending their suffering humanely I can end my own. At least. Um. For a few days.” Rethandus kept his gaze on her while she spoke, genuinely impressed by her methods to quell her curse.

“It’s going to take me a while to repair this damage. I’ll let you borrow a spare in the meantime.” he tossed the broken sword onto a nearby table, seemingly unfazed by potentially damaging it further. “Here… this should work for now. Take it back to the Acherus to get some runes inscribed on it when you get the chance.”

“Thank you Master Rethandus.” Zion gave him a warm smile and a modest curtsey; that smile didn’t last very long. “Um. I may be overstepping my boundaries. But. Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Ask away.” Rethandus never liked personal titles, but having her call him master was far less dreadful than he expected.

“So. How did you..?” her question trailed off, but it wouldn’t take a detective to fill in the blanks.

“How did I die?” Rethandus perked a brow at the woman before setting his smithing hammer down long the anvil. “I was stationed in Northrend awaiting Prince Arthas and his detachment to return to camp. When he finally came back to us several days later, he wielded an unfamiliar blade with an army of the dead trailing behind him. What happened next wasn’t a battle between the living and the undead… it was a massacre. I managed to bury my blade into the chest of one of his new champions, but it wasn’t enough.” Rethandus dropped his gaze to the smoldering ingot before him. “They drove a cursed blade into my gut. It was the coldest pain I have ever experienced… colder than I could ever imagine. When I opened my eyes again, I was this.” he gestured to himself before shooting his glance up at Zion. “My hair was frozen to my neck. My skin was drained of my blood… but the pain of my injuries were gone, replaced with a numbing cold I still feel today. My body moved against my will, and a voice didn’t recognize inside my head compelled me to march with the others. And march we did, down into the freezing depths of the sea, all the way to Quel’thalas.” Rethandus paused while he grimaced, vividly remembering the atrocities he committed on his own people. “I’m sure you can guess the rest…”

“I was in Northrend when I became a Death Knight too.” Zion slowly placed the spare blade down on a nearby table before continuing. “I was a cleric of the Argent Crusade, stationed in Zul’drak to heal crusaders on their way to Crystalsong Forest.”

“Argent Crusade?” Rethandus repeated. “That had to be long after the Battle of Light’s Hope Chapel.”

“It was. The Lich King had his plan to lure the strongest heroes into the heart of Icecrown, but the Cult of the Damned was starting to grow desperate. A surprise attack on the Argent Stand claimed a lot of us, and they wasted no time dragging us to a nearby ziggurat to raise us into undeath.” Zion gave him a disappointed smile. “I was a Death Knight for maybe two months before the fall of Icecrown Citadel. If I had kept my head down during that attack, I probably could’ve survived that night.”

“What’s done is done.” Rethandus quickly responded, knowing there was little point in thinking about such hypothetical outcomes. “Let me know when you’re off duty. We could go relieve some pain together. And I’ll teach you how to use that sword as well.” Her face lit up moments before she plucked her rental sword off the table.

“Thank you!” Zion beamed, barely able to contain her excitement. “Farewell, Master Rethandus!” Rethandus watched her trot out of the blacksmith with mild amusement; it was strange seeing a Death Knight so happy, but then again, she could hardly be considered a former Scourge Champion. He was starting to grow envious, knowing her list of atrocities committed upon the living would have to be blissfully short.

But he couldn’t afford to think about it for much longer. The titanium nails had to be completed before dawn, and long before his first mission with Advisor Kash’kaar. It would be the first of many.

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azems-familiar · 8 years ago

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of all the truths i could not tell ch 3

Search #myfic on my blog to find the other 2 chapters of this.

sooo this feels really awful and choppy and idk but i'd really appreciate some like opinions that it's maybe not??? and that it's long enough??? because it feels really short and err yeah so this is me apologizing in advance in case it really does suck also have i mentioned i'm making this up as i go along because yeah i am and this wasn't exactly supposed to happen but *shrugs*

also a friend from over on nanowrimo.org made a cover for this fic and it's beautiful and if someone could help me figure out how the fuck to get it to show up on here that'd be great

Chapter 3

Jyn steps off the ship, carefully, hesitantly, staying just behind Lyra, blinking in the sudden light. Yavin 4 is, apparently, a jungle planet; the U-wing has landed on an open space between two massive ziggurats, ancient stone accented with trailing greenery and faded carvings. Predictably, Lyra is entranced by the crumbling monstrosities; however, all Jyn can see when she looks at the ziggurats is the tactical (dis)advantage of building a base beneath the giant equivalent of an ‘X marks the spot’.

Of course, who knows how long the base has been here--she certainly doesn’t, at least--and the Empire hasn’t found the Alliance yet, so maybe it’s a decent location after all.

Cassian leads the two of them across the landing pad and into the hangar, and it seems as though he took her words about trust to heart, since he not only lets them walk behind him but also left his droid on the U-wing. Or maybe she’s overthinking things. But the apparent lack of concern about her and her mother is more than a bit unnerving. Everything is so… open, almost--Cassian didn’t even bother with an alias or ask them many questions. Nothing like the Partisans.

Saw would never have given out real names so casually, nor would he have let them see so much of the base. There would be bags over both Jyn and Lyra’s heads, their wrists in binders behind their backs, searched and disarmed and kept completely harmless until they were in the very center of the base. Jyn has escorted more than her fair share of men and women to the center of Saw’s stronghold. Some of whom ended up facing Bor Gullet.

(she doesn’t want to think about bor gullet right now)

Well, if the Alliance is going to be lax about security, she might as well take advantage of it. Quickening her steps, Jyn comes up alongside Cassian. “Where are we going?”

Cassian’s stride never falters, his face still and blank. “I’m taking you to Senator Mon Mothma. She and General Draven want to talk to you and your mother, to get a feel for the two of you. I'll then be asking you a few questions to determine what kind of training you'll need.”

Training. Jyn takes a breath, keeps her steps even and smooth, trying not to show any emotions on her face. Right. Liana Hallick would need training.

Liana Hallick had not spent five years among the Partisans.

Jyn wonders, idly, what the Rebellion would do with the wife and daughter of an Imperial scientist. After all, there's not really much that the two of them could do for the Rebellion, on principle; Lyra is a diplomat and a historian, with some knowledge of guerrilla warfare tactics from their time with Saw Gerrera, and the fierceness of a fighter when she has little other choice, and Jyn is a warrior, hardened and powerful and strong, with fire in her veins and steel in her bones and blood in her shattered glass smile. There's no doubt the Rebel Alliance could use them.

The only question is, would they?

Could the Rebels trust that Jyn and Lyra Erso wouldn't even ever dream of selling out the Rebellion to the Empire that stole their third member?

Jyn rather thinks not.

It's not necesarrily against the Rebels, the generals and senators and politicians who make up the core of the leadership of this ill-fated Rebellion against the all-powerful Empire; it's more like the idea that no matter how much Jyn and Lyra could bring to the table, there's always a chance that somehow, the Empire could use Galen Erso against them, to the downfall of the Alliance.

(hence why the aliases. lyra believes that the less they tell the rebellion, the better. even the senators like mon mothma, who would more than likely lean towards trusting the erso women, even they must not know. must not be allowed to know.)

Jyn lets a soft breath huff out between her lips and watched Cassian for a moment, then sighs and, shrugging internally, breaks the silence. "What kind of training?"

Cassian hesitates before answering. "Basic weapons training, hand-to-hand combat, simple tactics. The kind of things one needs to know to be a member of the Alliance. Depending on what you show aptitude in, you could be rerouted to a pilot--for flight training--or placed underneath an Intelligence officer to be assigned to that department. I would hazard a guess that neither of you are particularly political..."

Lyra snorts. "I consider myself to be a fairly decent diplomat, actually," she explains with a sarcastic laugh. "You'd be surprised at the things I can do. I really rather prefer talking over just blowing everyone up or shooting everyone. Violence is not always the best way to solve a problem."

"When the problem is as large as the Empire, Aurae, I don't feel like we have much of a choice," the Intelligence agent answers.

Lyra presses her lips together in a thin line, but doesn’t speak.

Cassian waits for a moment, then increases his pace ever-so-slightly, the blank mask back on his face; even his eyes are shadowed, hidden, and although Jyn prides herself on her ability to read people, she cannot find any emotion in his eyes. The face of a spy.

(and a good one, at that; surprising with how young he must be, only a couple years older than she is)

If Cassian notices her attempt, he shows no sign. (There’s no if about it; he’s too good not to notice. He just chooses not to react, for some reason she cannot fathom.) And then there’s no more time for conversation, because he holds up a hand to stop them in front of a door. There’s not much about the door to set it aside from all the other doors they’ve passed, but he steps forward with the same calm confidence he’s carried with him since Alderaan and knocks. There’s a second of silence, and then a voice calls out, “Enter,” just as calm and composed as Cassian himself, and then he opens the door and Jyn lays eyes on Mon Mothma for the first time.

(Later, the only thing she will remember from this first meeting is Mothma’s appearance; regal and calm and composed, everything her voice sounded like, a bastion of peaceful diplomacy in the storm-tossed sea of the Rebellion’s cold war. One of the things Jyn remembers is the look on Cassian’s face--deference and yet something more , something intangible, born of respect but mixed with something like disdain. Later, she’ll wonder if it’s related to the fact that Cassian is a spy; he’s seen the worst the Empire has to offer and more, has been through and done unimaginable horrors in the name of the cause, and yet while Mon Mothma is a strong leader she also still refuses to give up on a peaceful solution.

But that comes later. And right then, the only thing that matters is that they stay safe, uncompromised, they’ve survived the first investigation, the first test, but now comes the second, more thorough one, and if they fail this…)

(Later, she will also wonder if her own certainty about the coming war influenced her opinion of Mon Mothma in some way.)

“Welcome, Aurae and Liana Hallick, to the Rebel Alliance,” Mon Mothma says courteously. (Jyn has a feeling Mon Mothma always speaks courteously.) “My name is Senator Mon Mothma. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I’ve heard many good things from General Draven about you; he’s assured me that the two of you will fit in quite well here, and I want to pass along those assurances. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be here today to meet you.”

There’s a small pause, wherein Jyn shifts uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny of both Mon Mothma and Cassian, and Lyra struggles to come up with an appropriate answer. “Thank you, Senator,” she finally decides on. “Liana and I are in your debt for making this transition possible. I know it’s not usually your custom to expose yourself like this…”

Mothma smiles, warm and welcoming. “Only because we don’t usually have people reaching out to us. In the cold war--for lack of a better term--that we’re in right now, it’s considered more prudent by most people to remain neutral.”

The datapad lying on the table in front of the senator chirps an alert, and a flicker of irritation crosses her perfectly schooled expression. She glances down at the datapad’s screen and purses her lips. “I was hoping to have a little more time to speak with you, but it appears I have other matters to attend to. Forgive me. Sergeant Andor, would you find them temporary quarters and then begin their evaluations?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cassian-- Sergeant Cassian--responds with a crisp salute. Mothma acknowledges him with a quick nod, her eyes already drifting back to the datapad, and Cassian turns to Lyra and Jyn. “Ms. Hallick, Liana, if you would come with me, please…”

“Call me Aurae,” Lyra says back, then turns to follow him out the door. “Liana, are you coming?”

Jyn hesitates just inside the room, glancing back over her shoulder at the Senator, who is looking decidedly more upset with each passing second. As though she feels Jyn’s gaze, Mothma lifts her gaze from the datapad--

Their eyes meet.

There’s some strange, unspoken thing that flows between the two of them, in that moment; an acknowledgement, perhaps. (Of different views, of the futility of seeking peace, of the painful inevitability and hopelessness of war, and its cost)

And for a moment, Jyn almost begins to understand Mon Mothma.

Then Lyra calls out, “Liana?” and the moment shatters like spun glass, Mothma returning to her datapad as though nothing happened at all.

“Right behind you,” Jyn calls out, and leaves the room without looking back.

[=|=]

After what feels like days of questions (but is only three hours, according to the chrono on the wall), Cassian finally decides he’s gotten enough information from the two of them.

Jyn’s under no false pretenses--this was an interrogation, to see if they are worth the risk, to see if they’re who they pretend to be; she can only hope that his dismissal of them means they’ve passed. Not that his manner or tone could give her any clues. The entire time, he’s been cold and impersonal, asking questions with little regard for sentimentality or extraneous information, cutting to the quick, efficient and sharp.

She supposes that’s why he’s already an officer, at the tender young age of eighteen. (Or so she guesses; he looks around eighteen to her, and acts like it in rare moments--flashes of humor in his brown eyes when she cracks a joke raunchy enough to earn a reprimand from Lyra. There’s a hint of a smile flickering on his lips when she talks about her fierce desire to take down the Empire, and for some reason or another he doesn’t suppress the emotion in his eyes. Not that she can identify it, anyway. Everything about Cassian Andor is a mystery--not least, the reason why he runs around with that kriffing droid .)

“There you are, Cassian,” K-2 says, choosing that precise moment to shove his way inside the small room they’re in. “You have been gone for three hours and twenty-six minutes. This is an unreasonable amount of time. The ship needs repairs and I got wet and require an oil bath.”

“Hello to you too,” Jyn mutters under her breath, without thinking. She rolls her eyes at the droid’s antics, rising from the chair and stretching stiff muscles. “If we’re done here, are Mama and I free to leave?”

“Yes, of course,” Cassian answers quickly, following her example and standing. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a ship to take care of, and a droid who can most certainly take care of himself,” he adds when K-2 levels a vicious glare at him. (How a droid without a ‘face’ can glare is beyond Jyn, but she’ll be damned if he doesn’t somehow manage to make it happen.)

Lyra nods as though this is completely reasonable. “Of course, Sergeant Andor.”

“Which way is the mess hall?” Jyn interjects, deciding to ask the important questions now. And, besides, she’s hungry.

Cassian raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment. “I’ll show you there myself,” he says after a moment of consideration. “My ship can wait a few more minutes.”

She hesitates, then nods. This will work, even if it’s not quite what she had in mind; she’s not entirely sure she’s ready to socialize with the man who was quite prepared to kill her the instant she acted suspicious. “Lead the way,” she says, then, unable to resist: “Does the droid have to come?”

K-2 straightens, stares at her with an air of affronted dignity (she still doesn’t quite know how he manages it). “I’ll have you know that I am used to going with Cassian wherever he goes,” he begins.

“K, leave it,” Cassian says with a sigh. “Go get your oil bath, alright? Then you can help me with the ship.”

K-2 makes a noise that somehow approximates a grumbling sigh before turning and clanking away. Jyn nearly makes a comment about stealth, but falls silent at the look Lyra gives her--a look that clearly says to stop antagonizing the man .

Reluctantly, she stops.

“Anyway, the mess hall?” Lyra asks, stepping around Jyn to walk towards the door. “I think both Jyn and I are ready for dinner. It’s been a long day.”

(a long day of sitting around doing nothing on a ship, she wants to retort. she doesn’t.)

(she thinks about it for a long time, though)

(possibly too long, by the look cassian gives her, as though he knows exactly what she’s thinking)

(and maybe he does. she still can’t read him)

Cassian nods. “Right, yes. This way.”

Jyn follows him down the hallway, almost painfully conscious of the stares of the soldiers they pass, and forces herself to walk with her head up and shoulders back. She will not let them intimidate her.

As though she hears the thought, Lyra turns and glances back over her shoulder, and when their eyes meet, she smiles.

[=|=]

The next few weeks are spent in endless rounds of training. Jyn only sees her mother at mealtimes and at night, and she sees Cassian even less often; maybe once or twice a week. Occasionally, he’s close enough to exchange a few words with; even though she doesn’t really like him, he’s one of the few people she knows at the base, and there’s something about him that almost dares her to find out everything she can about him. He seems to share that, at least, and she can only hope that she figures him out before he unearths her true identity.

(she’s beginning to like the rebellion. she really doesn’t want to leave it behind)

He disappears for a couple weeks, returns looking haggard and weary with K-2 quiet (for once) and almost dispirited at his side. A mission, she guesses, and one that didn’t go so well; or, maybe, success wasn’t as sweet or fulfilling as she’d thought it’d be. She could ask him, could go search the base during one of her breaks and corner him, but the thought has little appeal. She’s not even that curious. It’s just--

(what does it take to make that hard of a spy come home like that?)

Nothing.

It’s nothing.

(she doesn’t tell lyra about it, doesn’t want to see her mother’s eyes)

And then, nearly three months after arriving at Yavin 4, Cassian walks up to her one afternoon and says, “Come with me,” and the carefully constructed routine of the past weeks shatters.

[=|=]

“Where are we going?” Jyn asks, struggling to keep up with Cassian’s long strides. He glances over at her, alters his steps ever-so-slightly, matching them more to hers. “Cassian?”

(he never said she had to use his rank, and she does know his name, after all…)

“I have a mission,” he answers shortly, “and I’m allowed to take a few soldiers with me. I’ll need help. I’ve been keeping an eye on your training.”

And that, she thinks, might be the closest thing to a compliment she ever gets out of him.

“But where are we going ?” she persists in asking, giving him a meaningful look. “And what’s the point? What are we doing? I’m not ready to just leave--”

“I understand,” he responds. “Which is why I’m taking you to your room, first.” His voice drops. “I’ll give you more details when we’re someplace private. This is a confidential mission.”

Confidential. Right. “You’ll at least tell me what I need to pack, right?”

“You don’t need anything other than what you can carry on you.”

Jyn sighs, then nods. It’s not very specific, not at all, but at least she has a better idea of what to bring now. (Well, sort of. Not really.)

Lyra’s in their room when she steps inside, surprisingly. “Mama? What are you doing here?” she asks, frowning. “Shouldn’t you be out doing… whatever it is you do?”

(they don’t really talk about the daily routine too much. she’s not quite sure why )

“I heard you’ve been chosen for a mission,” Lyra answers, voice soft. “I wanted to come say goodbye. And to give you something.” She reaches up to her neck and unknots a plain cord, draws it out from beneath her shirt--a glimmering, roughly cut kyber crystal. “Trust the Force, Jyn, and everything will go as it should,” Lyra finishes, whispering Jyn’s real name almost inaudibly.

“You’re giving it to me?” Jyn feels her eyes widen with astonishment--the kyber crystal necklace had been a gift from Galen, and it was one of the only things Lyra still had to remember her husband by.

Lyra just smiles and nods, tying the cord around Jyn’s neck then stepping back. “You should get ready,” she says instead. “Wouldn’t want to keep your commanding officer waiting,” and there’s a tightness in her smile, a strain in her eyes, but she refuses to show it in her voice. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Before Lyra can leave, Jyn takes a step forward and hugs her tightly, pressing her face into her mother’s shoulder, drawing courage and comfort from the familiar pair of arms around her. Then, slowly, reluctantly, she steps back, gives Lyra a smile and a nod and then goes over to her bed to get what she came for--a pair of clothes less distinctive than the Alliance uniform she currently wears, her collapsible batons, and her blaster. She changes while her mother leaves and then quickly wraps a scarf around her neck before returning to the hallway where Cassian awaits.

He doesn’t waste time asking her if she’s ready to leave or not, instead simply walking back down the corridor towards the hangar.

(a part of her notices that he keeps his strides short for her)

It’s not until they step inside his U-wing, however, that he speaks.

“Recently, Draven received some new intel from one of our informants. He asked me to verify the information. You and I will be travelling to an Imperial-controlled planet and spending a few days undercover in an attempt to, for lack of a better term, slice our way into the Imperial network in search of proof.”

At the mention of slicing, Jyn straightened. “I can help you out with that,” she says, only to be met by the smallest of smiles.

“I know you can,” Cassian answers, the smile flickering around the corners of his eyes and teasing his lips. “That’s why I asked you to come.”

“So,” she asks, slowly, hesitant, “where exactly are we going?”

“It’s your basic intelligence mission,” he says, evading the question. “I’ll evaluate your performance and see if maybe you’d fit in intelligence.”

“Cassian,” she says, staring into his eyes. “Where are we going?”

He swallows, takes a breath.

“Coruscant.”

#rebelcaptain #rogue one #cassian x jyn #cassian andor #jyn erso #lyra erso #k-2so #work in progress #stuff is finally happening #myfic

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otdderamin · 8 years ago

Text

Transcript Ep70 0:12:11 Initial negotiations with Raishan

[WIP: Partially edited, needs more time-stamps, may extend to the end of the Ziggurat War Room scene.]

If you like this transcript, please consider donating to Critical Role Transcripts, @CRTranscript, to help them provide closed captioning to Critical Role. We'd like to share this wonderful show with as many people as possible, regardless of hearing ability or English language skills.

Transcript method notes: http://otdderamin.tumblr.com/post/153539301510/a-note-on-my-transcription-method

Scene runs: 0:12:10 to 1:12:14 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=731

1. First impressions: no reason for trust 0:12:10 to 0:13:38 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=12m10s

2. The history of Raishan 0:13:43 to 0:19:18 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=13m43s

3. Negotiation 0:19:18 to 1:03:08 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=19m18s

4. Post negotiation 1:03:08 to 1:04:48 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=1h3m8s

5. The war room 1:04:48 to 1:12:14 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=1h4m48s

1. First impressions: no reason for trust

0:12:10 Matt: "So, having just revealed, through the somewhat transformed eyebrows, eyes, and upper face of the hairless, tattooed, and scarred side head of Seeker Asum, you can see the reptilian-green scales spill about, and the glowing, yellowish, reptilian eyes peeking through. The voice modulates into more of a deeper, but thin, reedy hiss, after Asum looks to you all, as Raishan, and says,"

0:12:44 Raishan: "I wish to kill the Cinder King. Now, you accept my alliance?"

0:12:59 Vex, derisively: "That's it? We're just supposed to trust you?"

0:13:02 Raishan: "No, I assumed you'd ask questions. I'm an open book; what do you require?"

0:13:11 Vax, staring intensely, coldly, at her with narrowed eyes: "Why in the fuck should we trust you?"

0:13:15 Raishan: "You shouldn't, to be perfectly honest. I'm a being that rides the line between what's true and what's false. And I know your research has spoken the same. However, strange circumstances make for strange bedfellows. And circumstances as they are, I think you have very little choice, as do I.

0:13:38 Vax "What do you claim your motives to be?"

2. The history of Raishan

0:13:43 Raishan: "Listen for a moment, and I'll tell you a bit about the history of this Green dragon before you. My home is south of here, within the jungles of the Riven Mist Peninsula, along the southern side of the Stormcrest. That is where I met the Cinder King, nearly two decades ago, when he encroached upon my territory. Now, we battled then. An exhausting struggle over days. Thordak is king of I, however, and older than I; he held his assault. He saw me, and he saw my disease.

"I was cursed a half century ago when I infiltrated and toppled a temple of Melora that was being built by a high druid for her roving peons. As I consumed her last follower, broke the druid upon her alter, she gave her dying breath to spite me. This sickness that she imparted was merely an inconvenience, but as the years wore on, it spread, and worsened. I left my pursuit of base interests and began to obsess over a cure for this before it took me. I burned through servant after servant to find anything on such a disease. Everything failed. Everything.

"Thordak somehow looked, and recognized my ailment. He said, 'You are unwell. A rare malady upon you. It will claim you in time. However, I've traveled the world, I've gathered many secrets, and I know how to be rid of it. To burn it out of your system with a fire you will never find. I've done it before. I can burn away the worst of illnesses.'

"Now I am a creature that can pierce any lie by nature, and I know in my heart that he spoke the truth that day, that dragon. I asked what he wanted in return. He said, 'Your servitude.' We made an agreement. He would return once he marked his domain, and we discussed the terms. However, he did not return.

"I grew furious and sought answers, only to find he was brought low and sealed away by some assembled others. Some fools from Emon. Now, it took me years of seeking, but I found his whereabouts. I was not going to let my chance to strike away this bloody curse slip from me, so I met him on the Fire Plane. For years, I saw his swelling, his pained form. He spoke of plans, ideas for vengeance and domination, but he would not relinquish the secrets he promised me until I released him.

"I proposed the Conclave. I assembled the others. I negotiated the agreements. I corrupted the binding‑stone. I prepared the Pyrah gate! I did everything! And as time went on, Thordak's clarity muddled. It seemed his bindings, the power he was absorbing, was beginning to drive him mad. We did not have any more time; I needed to initiate the escape before he lost enough to forget our agreement, the means to even fulfill his side of the bargain. No Celestial Solstice was planned. But Winter's Crest would have to do. And with Thordak freed, the Conclave assembled, Tal'Dorei was razed, divided, and won.

"But Thordak still withheld his words. He laughs at my requests. I see now that he does not mean to tell me, and never really did, as his mind began to go. He enjoys his seat of power, over all of you, over me, and I want him dead! I want to watch him be torn apart! I want to see his eyes go cold, and in that very moment, I want to call his spirit back! And bind his word to tell me how I can save myself. And then laugh at his misfortune as I tear what's left of him.

"So that… that, is why I come to you. I have not the power to take him myself."

[While Raishan talked, Vax stared coldly at her with narrowed eyes, warry and edgy. Vex looks suspicious and very uneasy. Grog looked both fascinated and really warry. Scanlan was thoughtful. Percy was watching her intently, and looked to be trying to read her. He was keeping an exceptionally neutral face, but he did twitch a slight simile a couple times when Raishan talked about being particularly screwed over. Keyleth started off thoughtful, but grew colder, more intense, and twitchier the longer Raishan talked.]

3. Negotiation

0:19:18 Keyleth, with an icy glower, voice quiet, lowered, but intense, posture aggressive: "Thordak will experience all of those things. He will burn, and he will suffer, and you will not be there to watch it happen."

[Percy tries trying to suppress a cold smile towards Raishan at Keyleth's words, as he moves his hand behind her.]

0:19:33 Vex, quiet but very worried: "Keyleth?"

0:19:35 Keyleth, baring her teeth: "You want to feel the burning inside of you?"

Percy gently puts his hand on Keyleth's shoulder.

Vex and Grog exchange a concerned look. Vex looks increasingly alarmed towards Keyleth.

0:19:41 Keyleth: "Oh, you will feel it Raishan. But it will not be from Thordak, or whatever proposed cure he made up."

0:19:55 Vex, putting her hand out towards Keyleth to stand her down: "Keyleth."

0:19:55 Keyleth, leaning forwards threateningly: "The burning you feel will be from the souls of ten thousand Fire Ashari as they sear your flesh. And the last thing that you will see will be my face, as I watch you suffer, as you watched," raising her voice, "a quarter of my civilization burn!"

0:20:28 Raishan, sneering in mock-placation: "Child, I commend your bravery in the face of certain doom. But- think before you give into such base passions. There's a much to be gained by us working together, and so much more to be lost."

[Percy's posture is shifting between being aware he should be trying to calm Keyleth down to coldly smiling at her intense contempt and mockery. Vax is clearly feeding off Keyleth's anger, growing tenser. Grog is getting more fidgety and looks like he's anticipating a fight. Vex looks increasingly alarmed.]

0:20:47 Keyleth, sneering: "Oh, you commend me for bravery? Oh Raishan, for someone who is supposed to be so smart, I am not afraid! I know what you are. You are a parasite. You walk around calling yourself a magnificent ancient dragon; you are nothing more than a leech. You consumed the energy of my people for years. And we're supposed to just trust you?"

0:21:26 Raishan: "Child, you anger is misplaced."

0:21:28 Keyleth, snarling and shouting: "Call me child one more goddamn time!"

0:21:31 Travis: "I move behind Keyleth!"

0:21:34 Raishan, contemptuously: "I did not slay a single one of your people."

0:21:39 Keyleth: "No-"

0:21:41 Raishan: "Thordak's release destroyed the top of that mountain."

0:21:42 Keyleth, snarling, angrily pointing at Raishan: "Which you did. You unleashed the mad dog! You BITCH!"

[Vex, Grog, Scanlan, and Percy are surprised and amused my Keyleth swearing. Percy drops all pretense of hiding his disdainful smile towards Raishan. Vax is staring still more fiercely at Raishan with his hand on his dagger.]

0:21:49 Keyleth, yelling: "This is your fucking fault! He's just a mad king, as you said so yourself. You're the master planner!" Calming her tone into a sneer, "But your plan backfired, didn't it? So now you've come to us. And you think that you can formulate some other master plan that's still going to somehow get you what you want. You dumb fool. When will you fucking learn."

0:22:37 Raishan: "Keyleth."

0:22:39 Keyleth: "Raishan."

0:22:43 Raishan, quietly scornful: "Do not mistake my grace in this room for need of conflict, nor foolhardy wishes. If I wanted each one of you dead, I would be chewing on your bones right now."

0:23:02 Percy, disdainfully, placing his hand on Keyleth's back again, startling her: "I think, perhaps, if I may be so bold as to… tidy up what Keyleth is trying to drive home here, is that for all intents and purposes, from this side of the table, you strike me as a desperate creature. Who's pretending that he has a choice to be here-"

0:23:35 Vex & Scanlan, quietly correcting him: "She."

0:23:36 Percy: "She, excuse me--that is another conversation. You've brought very little to the table. We are not impressed with your notions that somehow we can work together; you need us, and this is all you bring?"

0:23:52 Raishan: "No, I bring information. I bring knowledge of Thordak."

0:23:58 Percy: "Where's Asum?"

0:24:00 Raishan: "I know where Asum is."

0:24:02 Percy: "Where is Asum?"

0:24:03 Vax: "Let's start with that."

0:24:05 Percy: "Let's stop pretending you have a choice here."

0:24:11 Raishan: "The one you call 'Seeker Asum' is alive, in Emon, still working amongst The Clasp. The story I gave you was… mostly truth, peppered with necessary deceits to place me here amongst you for the time I needed. He is there to secure survivors against Thordak. I infiltrated the ranks of The Clasp, gained his trust, which allowed me to find your whereabouts, and so I came. He sent me on a mission to notify you of his plans, which, by the way, along with Brotoras, Goldhand, and The Clasp's coöperation, they have a plan to strike at the Cinder King."

0:24:57 Liam: "Insight check." He rolls, and shakes his head at the result. "Well, hold on." He rolls again.

0:25:07 Matt: "is that a Luck?"

0:25:08 Liam: "13. Never mind."

0:25:11 Matt: "Slippery dragon. There's no reason you'd believe or disbelieve; it's just words to you right now."

0:25:18 Liam: "Yeah…"

0:25:24 Vex: "What's their plan?"

0:25:26 Raishan: "One that'll fail, of course. You see, they put their knowledge in what a red dragon is capable of. They believe that by quelling the flames, or stoking some nature of the crystal in his belly's magic, they will be able to stop him, and there is a path to be taken there, yes, but their knowledge is faulty. They don't understand the nature of the enchantment. And should they attack, they will burn in the flames of their own righteousness."

0:26:00 Vex: "What's your illness?"

0:25:04 Raishan: "I wish I knew the extent of it."

0:25:08 Matt: "And you watch as Asum's form grows a little more green in places, the scales unfolding, and as the image, though still in the Halfling form, where the scales rest you can see a series of deep purplish-black veins that ride up the side of the throat, and across the chest and the arms. And they pulse with each heartbeat." He imitates a heartbeat.

0:25:37 Raishan: "It withers my constitution. It makes me weary. And I've sat with this for nearly 100 years. My brain is not dull, but I wish not to have this brilliant intellect waste away into ash because I couldn't find an answer."

0:26:58 Vex: "So you come before us and tell you you're weak?"

0:27:01 Raishan: "Well, weak by my standards."

0:27:05 Keyleth, tauntingly: "You're weak by mine too."

0:27:07 Vax: "If we were to work with you--and that is a massive fucking if--if we were to work with you, and Thordak were to fall, paint us a picture, what can we look forward to after that? What happens to you? Where do you go? What happens to Tal'Dorei?"

0:27:24 Raishan: "I have no interest in mass-kill domination. Most of these petty creatures that you call your brethren live amongst their cities, and that's fine. My happiness lies in returning to my home in the Riven Mist where I can pillage the east and southern coasts. Where I can ride out amongst the viridian ocean, and steal what is necessary to survive and enjoy my network of followers and spies. Far away from where you live. If that's uncomfortable, I can find a new home.

0:27:56 Vax: "You might as well be bringing us nursery rhymes."

0:28:00 Keyleth: "Sounds like a life happily ever after."

28:04 "If you're uncomfortable with my proximity, post the fall of the King, I will happily take my presence elsewhere. Gather my people, my belongings, and find a roost somewhere across the Ozmit, perhaps. Meanwhile-"

0:28:19 Percy: "I'm comfortable with that being a conversation that happens later. She'll break her promise anyway,"

0:28:22 Vex: "Well, obviously, but I don't believe anything she says."

0:28:25 Percy: "so it'll hardly matter."

0:28:26 Grog: "You're sure that Thordak has a cure for you?"

0:28:33 Raishan: "I have spent many years trying to untangle what could be the lie behind those eyes, and I am certain. There is a confidence with knowing, and withholding. It is stronger than the strongest of bluffs, and I've seen that confidence in the Cinder King, the cruelty in that knowledge, that smugness."

0:29:08 Vex: "Is he still insane?"

0:29:12 Raishan: "By most standards has been for some time, but it continues to slip. His narcissism grows to dangerous bounds."

0:29:27 Grog, quietly: "What about the white dragon?"

0:29:28 Percy: "Before we would agree, or even consider any terms, before we would consider any terms, we would need the white dragon removed from the playing field."

0:29:37 Keyleth: "Could be a good way for you to show us your loyalty. Even though you have none. But know, Raishan, whatever deal we strike does not end in you leaving my sight. You're gonna die. You're gonna die. Even if I have to die doing it."

0:30:11 Raishan: "You're amusing. So,"

0:30:17 Percy, with an antagonistic smile: "Really, this is a conversation about whether or not we wait to try and kill you before or after the Cinder King. That's fair, I think."

0:30:28 Raishan: "You think because you took surprise upon Umbrasyl, the brute, inferior intellect, that you will have the opportunity to strike me down. You have no idea what I'm capable of, no matter what malady festers within me."

0:30:50 Percy: "Oh, we know."

0:30:52 Raishan: "This is your home, right, Percival?"

0:30:54 Percy: "It is."

0:30:55Raishan: "It would be a shame for it to suddenly no longer exist."

0:30:58 Keyleth, frustrated: "Can we please just fucking kill her now!?"

0:31:00 Percy: "I am not Keyleth. Your threats… they won't bend me."

0:31:11 Raishan, in a low, mocking hiss: "Threats…"

0:31:11 Percy: Because I believe you. I believe that you would rend this entire city asunder. That's why I'm at the table. I am conscious of where we are. I'm conscious of who you are. And I'm conscious of what you need. I'm just trying to make sure that everybody's clear that the minute that red dragon dies, all bets are off. You know it as well as I do. And you should be wary, because only one side of this table is underestimating the other."

0:31:49 Grog, confused: "Which side is…?"

0:31:52 Percy, with a smile: "Thank you, Grog."

0:31:52 Sam: "Can I do a perception check to make sure this being is actually in the room, and is not just some sort of phantom."

0:32:01 Laura: "We've seen this before."

0:32:01 Taliesin: "Yeah."

0:32:03 Matt: "It's an insight check. Go ahead and make an insight check."

0:32:05 Scanlan: "17. Oh, nine- wait, am I proficient? No, 19."

0:32:12 Matt: "19; okay. The entity you see before you does appear to be physically present, as to your knowledge. No one's touched it or attempted to, but it does seem to be present with you."

0:32:24 Scanlan: "Okay."

0:32:26 Grog: "Alright, I love a good story, so, do you have a plan?"

0:32:31 Percy: "One step at a time. White Dragon."

0:32:36 Raishan: "Vorugal is a beast, simple of mind. Eager to kill, eat, sleep. That's about the extent. As long as it's given enough land and cattle to devour, it seems happy. It enjoys the hunt, enjoys the challenge." [Note the pronouns Matt, as Raishan, is using for another dragon.]

0:32:54 Percy: "How willing do you feel to be a participant in his demise?"

0:32:58 Vax: "A lot better if you'd be willing to shed a bit of blood."

0:33:04 Percy: "Get your hands dirty."

0:33:05 Keyleth: "Oh, she's already done that."

0:33:10 Raishan: "Our agreement, should this go forward, does not end when the Cinder King dies. I demand the opportunity to converse with spirit from the corpse."

0:32:31 Percy, mulling that over: "Hmm."

0:32:31 Raishan: "Once that's done, then you may pull your rug out from under me, if you will. I wish you the best of luck."

0:33:43 Percy: "Well, I assume once he's dead, you'll either turn on us, or you'll run away. Either way works for me.

0:33:53 Vax: "Yeah, yeah, we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. You going to scrap with the white dragon with us or not?"

0:33:58 Vex: Can you talk him into flying off? Leaving everyone alone?"

0:34:04 Percy: "No, I want a dead dragon."

Vex coldly laughs at that.

0:34:05 Raishan: "You see, whereas I have the aptitude to know where my alliances stand, Vorugal is, of the entire conclave, the closest Thordak has to a lap dog."

0:34:18 Vex: "So dead then."

0:34:20 Raishan: "Probably the best bet, yes."

0:34:22 Grog raises his hand.

0:34:25 Percy: "Yes, Grog?"

0:34:26 Grog: "I have a question; do you want to talk to Thordak's dead spirit, or are you after the big, shiny jewel at the middle of his chest?

0:34:36 Raishan: "I have no interest in whatever enchantment shackles him to his insanity. I merely wish to draw from him the secret I've been promised."

0:34:44 Travis: "Insight check to see if he's lying!"

0:34:45 Laura: "Ditto!"

0:34:46 Matt: "Insight check, both you guys, go!"

0:34:50 Travis: "That was not bad!"

0:34:50 Laura: "Aww, that was terrible!"

0:34:52Travis: "18. It's best not a 20."

0:34:54 Laura: "13." Sarcastic wink.

0:34:56 Matt: "Seems to be telling the truth."

0:34:57 Travis, sarcastically: "Yeah, well, sure."

0:34:58 Laura, sarcastically: "Yeah, sure he does- she does."

0:35:00Grog, reassuringly: "He's telling the truth."

0:35:02 Vax, Vex, & Scanlan, correct him: "She"

0:35:03 Grog: "She's telling the truth."

0:35:07 Percy: "So, once the white dragon's off the board, then we will hammer out whatever promises can be made, but until then…" he sighs, "there's just too many players on the field to say one way or another."

0:35:24 Vex: "Have you just been here, as Asum, this whole time? What have you been doing?"

0:35:29 Raishan: "Gathering information, like I do."

0:35:31 Vex: "What, do you sleep in his room, like a halfling? "

0:35:35 Grog: "Yeah, you wearing his clothes, and use his soap, and brush with his tooth brush?"

0:35:41 Raishan: "No, I move down to the stables and find a soft bit of hay. Yes, I sleep in his bed and his clothes."

0:35:47 Grog: "There's a lot of attitude on this one. I mean, it's a simple question. It's gross."

0:35:52 Keyleth: "It's pretty gross."

0:35:53 Percy: "It must be so humiliating for you that you need to turn to us for help. You do have my pity, in that regard."

Vex laughs.

0:35:38 Raishan: "It isn't the most… optimal circumstance, but we both have much to gain."

0:36:05 Percy: "A creature such as you…"

0:36:08 Keyleth: "Why do you think Thordak is the only one with knowledge on a cure?"

0:36:13 Raishan: "Because everywhere I've sought the information seems to have been destroyed by Thordak once we made the accord."

0:36:20 Percy, reflecting on that: "Hmm."

0:36:20 Vex: "If you tell us what the disease is…"

0:36:25 Keyleth: "Because that puny, little druid that cursed you, well, don't forget you're dealing with a puny, little druid right here."

0:36:38 Raishan: "You could take a look if you like, but I myself do not know its nature."

0:36:44 Vex, with a mocking smile: "Have you tried Greater restoration?"

Everyone cracks up.

0:36:47 Marisha: "It's the solution to all problems."

0:36:49Taliesin: "It's the chicken soup of Dungeons & Dragons."

0:36:53 Keyleth: "Chicken Soup For The D&D Soul."

0:36:53 Liam: "It's feed a curse, starve perma-death."

0:37:00 Taliesin: "Starve Stoneskin."

0:37:04 Grog: "Well, uh, no please, go ahead and continue."

0:37:07 Raishan: "Yes, I have."

0:37:08 Marisha: "What was the question?"

0:37:10 Taliesin: "Greater Restoration."

0:37:10 Raishan: "I've tried all forms of cleansing magic. I have bent many diviner to my aid, and all have failed. This isn't a simple magic, this was a Spirit Curse, this was something… this was something far more powerful."

0:37:28 Percy, pleased mulling: "Hmm…"

0:37:29 Grog: "Sounds like a job for me." Mimics spitting into both hands, puts his head down and opens his hands as if to try Lay on Hands. "C'mon."

0:37:35 Percy, towards Raishan: "You don't have to."

0:37:37 Raishan: "I don't want to."

0:37:41 Grog: "The spit smells funny, you know."

0:37:44 Percy: "Is it two days until the white dragon?"

0:37:47 Vex: "Possibly."

0:37:47 Keyleth: "How long do we have?"

0:37:49 Grog: "Wait, will Thordak know if we do something to Vorugal?"

0:37:55 Percy: "Of course."

0:37:56 Raishan: "Most likely, very quickly, yes."

0:37:59 Grog: "Why?"

0:38:00 Raishan: "He keeps a close watch on his subjects. He's paranoid, and requires us to continuously check in. Which I have been."

0:38:10 Vex: "You've been checking in? From where?"

0:38:11 Scanlan: "How? How have you been checking in?"

0:38:12 Vex: "Here?"

0:38:15 Raishan: "I have my… means in my room, yes."

0:38:19 Vex: "Does he know where you are?"

0:38:20 Raishan: "No. As far as he knows, I'm currently somewhere on the outskirts of Westruun attempting to forge some sort of vengeance for what happened to Umbrasyl."

0:38:33 Grog: "There's a terrible-"

0:38:35 Percy: "If he did find out he was here, it would be very easy to turn the two of them against each other."

0:38:43 Vex: "So, when Vorugal flew over… did he not sense you?"

0:38:53 Raishan: "He did not. I'm very good at avoiding the sight of those who would seek me, if I wish not to be seen."

Percy clearly picked up on the implications of that answer.

0:39:02 Vex: "Was he seeking you, or was he seeking Whitestone?"

0:39:05 Raishan: "Based on the correspondence that was put out by Thordak, he was very perturbed at the death of one black dragon that you slayed. As such, sent a rather large assortment of his and Vorugal's wyvern army to sweep the entire middle eastern side of Tal'Dorei in search of… you, I presume. Thankfully, your allies put up some sort of illusory barrier. One of which I did not disturb during that time. To whatever consolation that is to our agreement."

0:39:43 Percy: "It is of great consolation. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I am willing to say that these attacks will continue, post the destruction of the white dragon."

Vax and Keyleth shoot Percy a look of caution and suspicion.

0:39:55 Percy: "So long as these talks take place in Whitestone."

0:39:58 Vex: "We won't have much time to talk, after the destruction of the white dragon."

0:40:02 Percy: "We'll have enough. And if there is no Whitestone to hold talks in, there will be no talks."

0:40:09 Raishan, nods: "This is true."

0:40:10 Scanlan: "One moment. Just game this out for me, friends. If this is all bullshit, and Thordak has sent this little lady here to trick us into traveling with her to Draconia, where Thordak is lying in wait to kill us the second we get there, well then, if we're making a deal for this little lady to kill on our behalf, why do we need to go? Can we just stay in Whitestone and you go kill the white dragon for us? You're powerful, aren't you? Why do you need us?"

0:40:44 Grog raises his hand. Then lowers it after several seconds.

0:40:48 Raishan: "You see, if I was to utilize my full potential, which would be required to fell Vorugal, as idiotic as the creature is, it's still a very dangerous and cunning foe,"

0:41:03 Vax: "Not for you; you're so clever."

0:41:06 Scanlan: "Yeah, you can just pretend to be Vorugal's… something, pet hamster for a while until you kill him in his sleep."

0:41:15 Raishan: "Maybe I overestimated your intelligence."

0:41:17 Grog: "No, you-"

0:41:18 Percy, wish a dismissive gesture towards Scanlan: "Fine, carry on."

0:41:18 Raishan: "But, In doing so, would immediately paint a target on my back from Thordak. I think it's best that I remain in his good graces. As we all flank up unexpectedly when the time is right."

0:41:31 Percy: "He is correct."

0:41:32 Grog: "I would also like to say-"

0:41:33 Raishan, with an angry hiss: "She."

0:41:34 Percy, towards Scanlan: "I'm really enjoying that."

0:41:36 Grog: "I would also say that if she wanted to set a trap, three dragons on us, they would just all be here right now."

0:41:43 Percy: "Also, we could've just avoided it entirely and just waited for us to go to Draconia, as opposed to having someone come by to remind us that we were going to Draconia in the first place. It just seems like an awful lot of work."

0:41:57 Keyleth: "I still don't see why we need her to begin with."

0:41:59 Percy: "I want something-"

0:41:59 Keyleth: "We're powerful enough. Why don't we just kill her now?"

0:42:03 [Raishan spreads her arms in a 'come and get me' gesture.

0:42:03 Percy: "Honestly, because it would damage the castle."

0:42:06 Keyleth: "because it would- I-"

0:42:08 Grog, to Raishan: "No, no, don't provoke- she-"

0:42:09 Scanlan, to Raishan: "What is that? What is that move? Don't do that."

0:42:13 Percy, to Keyleth: "It would damage my home."

0:42:14 Keyleth, to Raishan: "You inviting?"

0:42:16 Percy, to Keyleth: "And there are civilians."

0:42:16 Raishan: "I'm saying… the choice is yours."

0:42:21 Grog: "Don't do it."

0:42:22 Raishan: "Either we work together, or you all fall."

0:42:26 Grog, to Keyleth: "C'mon!"

0:42:26 Percy, to Keyleth: "One dragon, then we talk."

0:42:28 Grog, to Keyleth: "Even my simple mind sees the advantages here."

0:42:30 Vax: "Keyleth, all we're debating, is the order in which they die."

0:42:41 Keyleth: "She was first on my list."

0:42:45 Percy, with his right hand patting Keyleth's arm with a sad, self-deprecating smile: "I don't recommend lists."

0:42:54 Percy, leaving his hand on her arm to gently restrain her: "I…" he sighs. "The only reason I am stopping you from doing this, and swear this is the truth," he winces, his voice slightly breaking, "is 'cause this is my home."

0:43:06 Keyleth: "But this could be our best chance."

0:43:08 Percy: "There would be nothing left."

0:43:09 Raishan: "Keyleth,"

0:43:09 Keyleth: "It would be easiest, to do it right now."

0:43:12 Raishan: "Half-Elf,"

0:43:13 Percy: "Thousands would die. To you."

0:43:14 Raishan: "Look at me."

0:43:16 Keyleth: "She's right in front of me, Percy."

Percy puts his left hand on her back, his posture both gently hugging and restraining her. He says something inaudible to her.

0:43:17 Raishan: "Your world view is clouded by optimism that does not belong in Exandria. There is good, there is evil, but this world has been remade many times because, life. Is. Destruction. You should know this as a purveyor of life in its own right. The cycle lives on, the chaos perseveres, everything grows, eats, then dies, or is eaten."

[Everyone's body language dismisses Raishan's remarks as utter crap.]

0:43:50 Percy says something inaudible to Keyleth, cautionary advice from his tone, and lets her go. [Possibly, "Dead may not get you what you'd hoped it to."]

0:43:50 Raishan: "You can put whatever fine dressing on it you like."

0:43:53 Vax: "Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up, sick bag." He turns to Keyleth.

0:43:56 Percy, to Keyleth: "Would it be enough to watch him-"

0:43:57 Keyleth, boiling: "She's not making this easy to walk away, you guys."

0:44:01 Vax: "Percival- Percival- Percy is right."

0:44:06 Raishan: "Fact is,"

0:44:06 Vax: "You do not want the people of Whitestone to fall like the people of the Ashari."

Keyleth's taken aback by that and sobers up.

0:44:12 Vex: "More deaths do not make it right, Keyleth. Not right now."

0:44:14 Grog: "You're gonna get yours. You're gonna get it. Just be patient."

0:44:18 Raishan: "You're telling me you have not claimed a life or two in your time? Do think your goals and your attempts to save those close to you have not been wrought with bloodshed?"

0:44:30 Keyleth: "Oh, I know the consequences of every step of my actions. It is you, Raishan, who didn't realize the biggest consequences standing in front of you right now."

0:44:44 Raishan: "Do you think you've not stepped on an anthill to get to your destination?"

0:44:48 Keyleth: "I don't give a flying shit."

0:42:51 Percy, startled by Keyleth's livid response, nearly silent: "Wow."

0:44:51 Raishan: "I merely stepped on an anthill to get to mine"

0:44:53 Vax: "You're just fucking winding her up, man."

0:44:57 Raishan: "Understand, there are different levels of thought, intellect, and intent here."

Keyleth is seething. Percy holds her back again, more firmly, staring harshly at Raishan with the occasional glace back to Keyleth.

0:45:06 Raishan: "I come to you because we have much to gain together. Or lose everything by not listening to what I have to say."

0:45:14 Percy, resolutely: "You will join us in the fight against the white dragon."

0:45:17 Raishan: "I will. If you promise to let Thordak's soul be mine."

0:45:25 Percy: "Nope. That's not the deal."

0:45:26 Vax: "We're talking about a second round of negotiations."

0:45:31 Percy: "We will consider your offer once the white dragon is dead. Not a minute before."

0:45:36 Vax: "This is evidence of your good will."

0:45:36 Raishan: "This is not a negotiation."

0:45:37 Percy: "This is everything of a negotiation, you fool."

0:45:41 Raishan: "What am I getting out of this, then?"

0:45:43 Percy: "Your life!"

Raishan laughs scornfully.

0:45:45 Scanlan: "An opportunity to prove yourself to us."

0:45:46 Percy: "A cure to yourself!

0:45:48 Vex: "A chance to take down Thordak; you said yourself you couldn't do it on your own."

0:45:50 Keyleth: "And yet again-"

0:45:50 Vax: "We haven't danced with a dragon that now stands breathing."

0:45:55 Percy "Your desperation is so obvious."

0:45:56 Keyleth: "We walk away, and you die. Or we stay, and you die."

0:46:02 Vex laughs, and gives a 'maybe, sort of' gesture.

0:46:06 Raishan: "Here, I aid you with the tearing of Vorugal, as a show of good will."

0:46:14 Percy: "Yes."

0:46:17 Raishan: "In response, you keep my true nature secret between those in this room."

0:46:23 Percy: "Yes."

0:46:25 Grog: "Oh. Allright, yeah."

0:46:27 Scanlan: "Sure

0:46:28 Vex, pointing to Grog: "He's really good at keeping secrets."

0:46:29 Percy: "That's fair."

0:46:29 Raishan: "You maintain that I have access to the lengths and breadth of Whitestone."

0:46:33 Percy nods.

0:46:34 Grog "Wait a minute, the length and bread of Whitestone?'

0:46:43 Raishan: "Largely because I have interests in deciding my plan against Thordak. And let's just say, some of it may include a trinket or two that have come your way in your travels."

0:46:55 Keyleth quietly, coldly, scornfully laughs at her.

0:46:00 Grog: "Are you fully aware of what lies beneath Whitestone?"

0:47:06 Raishan: "I have some ideas."

0:47:08 Percy: "Would you like to see it?"

0:47:11 Raishan: "I have seen it."

0:47:12 Percy: "Have you?

0:47:13 Vex: "You've been down there?"

0:47:14 Grog: "Yeah, what is it then?"

0:47:15 Raishan: "I've been here for some time, my dear."

0:47:18 Vex: "Then why didn't we meet down in the- down there. Why're you so scared of it?"

0:47:20 Grog: "Yeah, if you've seen it, tell us what it is?"

0:47:25 Keyleth: "I know. You know?"

0:47:28 Percy: "Of course he knows." Taliesin catches his mistake and looks really annoyed with himself.

0:47:33 Scanlan: "You say it first."

0:47:35 Raishan: "I'm not telling you anything. That is not part of the negotiation."

0:47:39 Grog: "How big is it? If you've seen it."

0:47:40 Raishan: "If we are indeed-"

0:47:41 Matt breaks off laughing at the exchange with everyone else.

0:47:44 Scanlan: "Describe it."

0:47:48 Percy: "One dead white dragon and then-"

0:47:47 Raishan snaps her fingers.

0:47:51 Maisha/Keyleth: "Oh geez, what is that?"

0:47:52 Matt: "Raishan snaps her fingers, you see a spark, and you notice a brief burst; akin to a Minor Illusion, no sound, nothing, just the image of a tiny, black orb."

0:48:05 Grog: "Shit! She's seen it."

0:48:05 Percy: "That'll do. One dead white dragon, and then negotiations continue." Long pause. "We will speak to no one of what you truly are, although we may caution others that we're looking a bit sideways at Seeker Asum."

0:48:28 Raishan: "I would recommend none of that. Any suspicion mean I'm being followed. If I'm followed and feeling threatened, the person you told may not survive. We do not want that, but I'm going to look out for myself."

0:48:42 Grog nods.

0:48:43 Percy: "That's fair."

0:48:44 So anyone you tell, you're putting in danger."

0:48:47 Percy: "That is also fair."

0:48:48 Keyleth: "Anyone you touch, you are then putting yourself in danger. If any of our friends wind up dead, we're looking at you first."

0:48:58 Raishan: "Fair enough."

0:48:59 Vex: "Have you done anything with the rest of our friends?"

0:49:02 Raishan: "Nothing."

0:49:03 Keyleth: "Where's Asum?"

0:49:06 Keyleth: "Did we already cover that?"

0:49:07 Vex: "Yeah, yeah we already covered that."

0:49:08 Percy: "You were very angry at that point."

0:49:09 Keyleth: "I was very angry, I've forgotten a lot."

0:49:11 Percy: "Whitestone will not fall. If Whitestone falls, all deals are off. If Whitestone is attacked, all deals are off. You keep if off the radar."

0:49:19 Raishan nods.

0:49:21 Raishan: "It's already off the radar, I just will not touch the radar."

0:49:24 Percy: "That will do."

0:49:25 Vax: "What is radar?"

0:49:26 Raishan: "I don't know."

0:49:28 Percy: "Do you never go into my room? Do you never look at what I'm working on?"

0:49:31 Sam: "What room are we in right now?"

0:49:33 Marisha: "War room."

0:49:34 Matt: "The old war room which is upstairs facing the front."

0:49:36 Laura: "Our old war room."

0:49:35 Sam: "Okay."

0:49:36 Laura, pointing at Matt: "We asked to go down to the Ziggurat, and she didn't respect that."

0:49:40 Matt: "Nope."

0:49:43 Laura, quietly: "Bitch."

0:49:44 Matt, quietly laughing: "Yeah."

0:49:45 Liam, Laura and Marisha joining: "I said biiitch!"

0:49:46 Taliesin: "For many reasons."

0:49:47 Matt, agreeing: "For many reasons."

0:49:49 Percy: "So let's-"

0:49:50 Sam: "How big is the room?"

0:49:51 Matt: "It's about… I'd say… close to… 30 feet by 60 feet?"

0:50:00 Sam: "How many entrances?"

0:50:01 Matt: "There's two doors that enter, and then two windows that face out the front."

0:50:03 Laura: "Are you going to attack her? All of a sudden? Are you going to attack her right now?"

0:50:05 Sam: "I mean… We should probably just kill her right now."

0:50:09 Liam: "She's going to Alice in Wonderland us out the windows and doors."

0:50:09 Marisha: "I agree with that! I agree with that! Can I do a scan of the room? Like a perception check to see if I notice anything magical, or traps, or anything weird setup?"

0:50:14 Taliesin, quietly, looking dismayed, facepalming at the exchange: "Please not in my house. Please not in my house."

0:50:15 Sam: "She is here. Because she is weaker than us."

0:50:20 Matt: "Make an investigation check."

0:50:21 Marisha: "Investigation?"

0:50:21 Taliesin, very quietly, still facepalming: "She's not weaker than us. She's just not strong enough to take Thordak. Big difference."

0:50:22 Matt: "Yep. If you're looking for traps, it's investigation."

0:50:24 Marisha: "Well, no, is there anything off?

0:50: Laura, quietly, shaking her head: "Her- opening she'll bust out of this fucking place."

0:50:26 Tavis: "She's weaker than us. We can kill her whenever."

0:50:29 Taliesin makes a sound of distress.

0:50:30 Laura: "Exactly."

0:50:31 Travis: "Might as well use her."

0:50:32 Taliesin makes a sound of distress.

0:50:36 Marisha: "General perception… 21."

0:50:38 Matt: "21. Glancing about the room, it does not appear to have anything that you notice different. It's the same. It has the two banners on the side walls, it has the table in the center with some chairs scattered about, there's the two windows opposite."

0:50:48 Taliesin: "She is entirely prepared." Nearly inaudible, my guess, "With all the attention. Please no."

0:50:49 Matt: "At one window that currently Asum is right to his- or Raishan has to her back."

0:50:57 Sam: "Let's just attack after-"

0:50:58 Vax: "I don't Scanlan is wrong. I think… he is weak." [clearly intentional pronoun.]

0:51:05 Laura/Vex, quietly, but very frustrated: "No! Guys!"

0:51:07 Sam/Scanlan: "It."

0:51:10 Taliesin/Percy: "Scaly. … Kermit."

[Everyone has repeatedly referred to non-humanoids with 'it.' Including dragons. Raishan used 'it' in this conversation while referring to Vorugal. Based on this consistency, and Taliesin's remarks following, I think Sam was equating Raishan with an animal as a way of skirting the gender issues. Not commenting on the issues for humanoids.]

0:51:08 Vax, carefully: "However, she will try to destroy as much as possible, out of spite, in her death throws."

0:51:19 Percy, looking slightly relieved: "Thus also exposing the city. We will be attacked. That will be the end of Whitestone."

0:51:26 Travis: "I walk over very gingerly to Keyleth, and I grab very- one of her antlers very gently, and I say,"

0:51:33 Grog: "Look, if wanna go, we're with you. But if you exercise a little patience, I think we'll get more out of this, and you'll still get yours in the end." He lets go of her antler.

0:51:48 Keyleth, quietly: "Is Grog talking to me about patience right now?"

0:51:49 Vex: "He is. That's- That's very important."

0:51:51 Keyleth: "That's so extreme."

0:51:53 Vex: "Yes."

0:51:55 Scanlan: "He's a man of peace."

0:51:56 Grog, hastily: "I mean, don't get me wrong. I want to crack it open right now, but we'll get more later."

0:52:01 Vax: "He's learned a lot."

0:52:03 Grog holds up two fingers on each hand, brings them together, and holds up four fingers on one hand.

0:52:05 Keyleth: "Grog…" She groans.

0:52:15 Percy: "I guarantee you, the complete lack of satisfaction that you feel when she's finally dead, will be just as potent two days from now."

0:52:25 Keyleth: "Did Thordak tell you about the," air quotes, "'trinkets' of ours that you wanted?"

0:52:32 Raishan: "Thordak has no idea what lies beneath this city. Thordak is too obsessed with himself"

0:52:39 Keyleth: "About what we have, I mean."

0:52:41 Vex: "Don't!"

0:52:42 Raishan: "Are you referring to your Vestiges?"

0:52:43 Vax: "Friendship!"

0:52:44 Vex: "Friendship and-"

0:52:46 Percy: "Good girl."

0:52:46 Keyleth: "She knows!

0:52:47 Raishan: "I've already been told everything.

0:52:48 Keyleth: "She does! She knows!

0:52:50 Raishan: "You informed me of your entire plan."

0:52:51 Vex: "I know, I know! Okay!? 'Cause we're really smart, and we totally-"

0:52:56 Scanlan: "We knew it was you all along."

0:52:57 Vex: "The whole time!"

0:52:58 Scanlan: "We wanted you to know what you're up against!"

0:52:59 Vex: "That's right!"

0:53:00 Raishan: "Of course you did."

0:53:01 Vax: "Taunting you all along."

0:53:02 Percy: "In two days."

0:53:02 Keyleth: "We thought it was Asum. We talked to- She knows. She knows! We told her everything. What does he want!?"

0:53:10 Raishan: "What does Thordak want?"

0:53:11 Keyleth: "Yes."

0:53:12 Raishan: "Thordak wants everything. Everything. Thordak is using the crystal in his belly to slowly build a volcano beneath Emon. To turn the surrounding city and the country side into a new mountain of his visage."

0:53:33 Grog, quietly: "Shit."

0:53:34 Vex: "How long Until that happens."

0:53:37 Raishan: "That's going to be another hundred years"

0:53:38 Vex: "Oh."

0:53:38 Raishan: "until the entire mountain is complete. But, the physicality is already adjusting. The molten rock begins to swirl and flow beneath the Cloud Top District."

0:53:50 Grog: "What? You said he's building a volcano?"

0:53:52 Raishan: "Well, a volcano is being summoned beneath him. Such is the nature of the crystal he carries. The energy he absorbed from the Fire Elemental Plane carried over with him, and it's still hungry. It's why he swells. It's why he's in pain. But he just laughs instead. As it also gives him extreme power and neigh-invulnerability."

0:54:13 Grog: "You said before, you knew Thordak before he was trapped in the Fire Elemental Plane."

0:54:17 Raishan: "Yes."

0:54:18 Grog: "Was he in any way on what is now known as Glintshore before the Elemental Plane?"

0:54:25 Raishan: "It's possible. I uh, I have no knowledge of this Glintshore."

0:54:32 Vax: "What do you know about the Briarwoods?"

0:54:36 Raishan: "Don't think I know anything about some Briarwoods."

0:54:38 Vax: "Really? What do you think about the walls surrounding that beach ball down there? It's a little creepy down there, isn't it?"

0:54:48 Raishan: "Itself is a little off-putting, yes."

0:54:50 Vax: "You expect us to believe you know nothing? As smart as you are? You know nothing of what happened there in the months past?"

0:54:58 Raishan: "I know what I've been told."

0:55:00 Vax: Are you sure you're not trying to summon something awful at that marble."

0:55:04 Laura: "Do we know, do we remember…"

0:55:06 Taliesin: "Something else awful. That's bad." He grimaces.

0:55:06 Raishan: "Do you think I wish to have another creature that I play subservience to?"

0:55:13 Vex: "No…"

0:55:14 Grog: "Maybe if he can heal you."

0:55:14 Laura: "Do we know, 'cause Vecna, right, is Melora an enemy of Vecna? Do we know that?"

0:55:21 Sam: "We've heard of Melora before."

0:55:21 Matt: "I mean, essentially."

0:55:22 Vex: "We've heard of Melora."

0:55:24 Matt: "Melora is the goddess of the wilderness and the sea. Very nature, life, elemental-based deity. Vecna is not a god. Vecna was a very powerful-"

0:55:37 Laura: "Wants to be a god."

0:55:39 Matt: "wanted to become a god, and was balked and scattered, supposedly destroyed a long time ago, but the cults still endure, and infiltrate and wander various parts of Exandria."

0:55:51 Laura: "Okay."

0:55:52 Liam: "What do you want to do with that thing?"

0:55:55 Raishan: "Well, it pertains to what I think is a sound plan to bring Thordak down to our level."

0:56:02 Vax: "Well, tell me a little bit more."

0:56:03 Raishan: "I will tell you, once we finish this leg of your journey, since you're so eager to have made the agreement."

0:56:09 Vex: "Makes sense."

0:56:10 Vax: "I think you're lying through your teeth. I think you want something you're not telling us about. But I do want the white dragon dead."

0:56:16 Grog: "Yep"

0:56:16 Vex: "Yeah."

0:56:16 Vax: "And we can work on it later."

0:56:17 Vex: "Let's do that."

0:56:17 Grog: "Yeah."

0:56:18 Scanlan: "Let's all agree that this is definitely bullshit."

0:56:21 Vax: "Definitely."

0:56:21 Vex: "All of it."

0:56:22 Percy: "I actually- No, I'm going to disagree. I think everything she said is the truth. And I think she's not saying an awful lot more. Deception is far more interesting if you're not telling the truth all of the time, and I think she's telling a lot of truth, just not all of it."

0:56:38 Vax, pointedly: "Oh Percival, lies of omission are a tricky thing, aren't they?"

0:56:42 Percy: "They're far more tricky than simple lies. And I think we've heard an awful lot of truth."

0:56:46 Vax looks sour with Percy.

0:56:48 Grog: "I'm confused."

0:56:50 Percy: "So yes, I'm willing to work with what we have."

0:56:53 Vax, resentful and disappointed: "Yeah…"

0:56:54 Keyleth: "Do you have any ideas on how to defeat Vorugal?"

0:56:58 Raishan: "Well, for one thing, I will be peripheral to the battle. I will aid you, but I cannot be seen on the battle field, or Thordak will know immediately there has been… a turn of allegiance."

0:57:13 Grog: "Makes sense."

0:57:14 Vex: "So, what good are you? What can you do?"

0:57:16 Scanlan: "Yeah, can you shape-shift into other beasts?"

0:57:18 Raishan: "I can change my form into a number of creatures and be of assistance in that way. I have a series of arcane talents I can bring to the battlefield as well."

0:57:28 Vex: "Why"

0:57:28 Scanlan: "Needed a beast to… bait Vorugal with."

0:57:32 Vex: "I have an idea, with that."

0:57:35 Percy: "Yes, I believe we're all on the same page."

0:57:36 Vex: "I have a thought."

0:57:37 Keyleth: "What's interesting is the way that stacks, too."

0:57:41 Vex: 'Mmhmm."

0:57:41 Grog: "Go ahead. Or do you want to save it?"

0:57:44 Vex, sighing: "If we're in this together, can I just say it in front of her?"

0:57:49 Scanlan: "Sure."

0:57:49 Percy: "Yes."

0:57:49 Grog: "No. Don't"

0:57:52 Scanlan: "Well, she'll need to know at some point."

0:57:52 Percy: "She'll know. She'll hear it anyway.

0:57:55 Grog: "At some point."

0:57:56 Percy: "Even if she's not in the room, we should just agree that she'll-

0:57:58 Grog: "I say we agree on principal- princ- princ- we agree." Puts his finger up in a hesitant 'emphasizing a point' gesture.'

0:58:05 Keyleth: "Yes, yes."

0:58:05 Percy: "Yes."

0:58:09 Grog, raising his hand as a vote: "I agree. Hands?"

0:58:12 Vex raises her hand. Percy raises both hands.

0:58:13 Scanlan: "What are we agreeing on?"

0:58:14 Vex: "I don't know, just say you agree with him."

0:58:14 Grog: "To fight with Raishan."

0:58:19 Percy: "I'm in this far."

0:58:20 Vax raises his hand.

0:58:23 Scanlan, referring to himself and Keyleth: "You don't need our vote It's already decided."

0:58:27 Grog: "You're abstaining?"

0:58:28 Scanlan: "Yes."

0:58:28 Grog: "I really wish you would vote."

[PSA: Voting is important. Small political derailment. Matt facepalms. Taliesin puts the kibosh on it when it gets too political.]

0:59:08 Scanlan: "Okay. Let's kill a dragon and feel that burn."

…

0:59:22 Scanlan: "Okay, I'm in. For now."

0:59:24 Percy to Keyleth: "You don't have to be in."

0:59:30 Marisha: "Keyleth holds her hand out, to shake her hand." She holds out her hand.

0:59:34 Grog: "Oh geez."

0:59:34 Laura gasps in foreboding.

0:59:38 Liam: "I am drawing a blade behind my back."

0:59:40 Matt: "Asum walks around the table slowly, making eye contact with you, those yellow, reptilian slits for eyes." Footsteps. "Brushes past you.

0:59:55 Raishan: "You've grown quite a bit in just these few moments, Keyleth." She shakes Keyleth's hand."

1:00:03 Keyleth: "I heat up my hands just a little bit, my flame hands. Feel the burn."

1:00:15 Sam: "The dragon dies."

1:00:22 Matt: "Stands there keeping a grip, and releases your hand.

1:00:27 Raishan: "Very well. So, what's your plan against Vorugal?"

1:00:36 Grog: "We need a moment. I feel like the emotions in here are a bit raw. Can we please-"

1:00:42 Percy: "We will reconvene tomorrow for travel-"

1:00:44 Vex: "Tomorrow morning?

1:00:44 Percy: "tomorrow morning to arrange travel, and the battle plan towards --."

1:00:51 Scanlan, alarmed: "Shouldn't we keep an eye on this one all night!?"

1:00:53 Percy: "No."

1:00:54 Vex: "What? We haven't kept an eye on her the whole time!"

1:00:56 Scanlan: "No, but she could be sneaking around, creeping into other rooms-"

1:01:00 Percy, harshly: "That she hasn't already creeped into!?"

1:01:02 Raishan: "I can guarantee you, you're not wrong. But I have been and I will regardless of-"

1:01:06 Percy: "Yeah, no."

1:01:07 Scanlan: "She could come into my room at night and do things to me that I don't want to be done."

1:01:11 Vex, doubtfully: "That you don't want to be done?"

Scanlan, and everyone else cracks up.

1:01:12 Grog: "Let's be honest…"

1:01:12 Percy: "There's nothing you don't want to be done, let's be fair."

1:01:16 Vex, laughing: "You're giving her ideas right now, aren't you?"

1:01:17 Scanlan tilts his head in a 'maybe' gesture.

1:01:18 Percy: "I'm not changing her status in the castle before. There's no sense in changing..."

1:01:20 Vax: "You're going to want to scratch that one off the list."

1:01:21 Keyleth, laughing: "Yeah, yeah!"

1:01:24 Travis: "No. No!"

1:01:26 Scanlan: "I'm going to have sex with every beast on every continent."

1:01:30 Taliesin: "Thank you, Captain Kirk."

1:01:33 Matt: "Gotta catch them all!"

1:01:39 Percy: "I'm content with this."

1:01:40 Vex & Vax: "Yeah."

1:01:41 Raishan: "Very well. I'll go… check in with the boss, if you will, in the meantime."

1:01:45 Vex: "Uhh…"

1:01:48 Raishan: "Alleviate any concern on his end. We shall meet tomorrow."

1:01:49 Percy: "Thank you."

1:01:51 Vax, hesitantly: "Yeah…"

1:01:51 Percy: "We'll see you tomorrow. And thank you-"

1:01:53 Marisha: "Can I get an insight check on that 'check in with the boss?"

1:01:55 Matt: "Sure."

1:01:56 Marisha: "She's gonna turn around and tell him everything."

1:01:58 Travis: "You gotta kill it. There's only one number you can roll."

1:02:00 Laura: "Get a natural 20. Natural 20!"

1:02:02 Marisha: "C'mon, natural 20! No, it wasn't bad, it was a 15. So 26."

1:02:06 Travis: "That's not a 20."

[Matt whispers to Marisha. Liam tries a Loot Crate rap that he quickly bails on from embarrassment.]

1:02:55 Matt: "Raishan looks very confused."

1:02:58 Keyleth: "Alright, let's go."

1:03:00 Raishan: "Very well. I'll see you tomorrow."

1:03:02 Matt: "The image of the veins, the scales, everything reverts back to normal Seeker Asum, nods, and leaves the room."

4. Post negotiation

1:03:08 Taliesin and Liam clearly pick up on 'image.'

1:03:09 Percy: "Downstairs. To the real room. Downstairs."

1:03:11 Vex: "Yes, yes. I know."

1:03:12 Taliesin: "Downstairs to the real room."

1:03:14 Scanlan: "To the real war room?"

1:03:15 Vex, Grog, & Percy: "Yes."

1:03:16 Scanlan: "Magically incapable of-"

1:03:17 Grog & Vex: "Yes." Percy nods.

1:03:18 Scanlan: "Okay, but wait, before we go down there, two things. Keyleth, can you scry today?"

1:03:25 Keyleth: "Yes, I can."

1:03:26 Percy, very alarmed: "Do not!"

1:03:28 Scanlan: "So there's- We could check in on Vorugal."

1:03:31 Vex: "Yeah."

1:03:32 Scanlan: "Make sure that Vorugal is actually there, and not-"

1:03:34 Vex: "Don't actually look at Vorugal, look at something near Vorugal."

1:03:38 Grog: "Okay, we could…"

1:03:38 Scanlan: "Just to make sure Vorugal is in town, and not here."

1:03:41 Grog: "Right. Two?"

1:03:42 Vex: "Mmhm."

1:03:43 Scanlan: "We could look into Raishan's room right now and watch how it scrys. I mean, it communicates with its boss."

1:03:49 Percy: "Absolutely do not think that's a good idea."

1:03:53Grog: "Why?"

1:03:54 Vex: "I don't think so, either."

1:03:54 Scanlan: "Why?"

1:03:56 Vex: "She'll know."

1:03:56 Vax: "She'll go apeshit. No."

1:03:57 Keyleth: "Let's go down to the war room."

1:03:57Scanlan: "So then what? So we kill her."

1:03:59 Keyleth: "War room?"

1:04:00 Scanlan: "We're better than she is!"

1:04:02 Vax: "She's-"

1:04:03 Percy, with a nervous laugh: "We're really not!"

1:04:03 Vax: "obviously hiding shit from us, and if one of us goes and pokes our nose in there, she's gonna start a draw right there."

1:04:10 Marisha: "Are we in the war room? Can we go down and talk about this in the war room?"

1:04:12 Taliesin: "We're down in the war room."

1:04:12 Matt: "You can go there right now."

Vax: "Are we talking

Matt: "Okay, so you make your way-"

Taliesin: "I have already been walking.

Matt: "under Whitestone, through the tunnels, to the location of the Ziggurat. The war room is a series of tables and chairs that have been assembled on the top of the Ziggurat, near the spinning- bead of death as you call it. It's makeshift, it's functional, there is currently no one else in here, even though there are a couple guards stationed to make sure nobody comes in here without approval. But you are currently stepping up to the top of the Ziggurat, and there it rests, still spinning silently in place."

5. The war room

1:04:48 Grog: "Okay, drop it on them."

1:04:50 Laura: "I sit on a table."

1:04:51 Vex: "So what's going on?"

1:04:52 Grog: "Yeah, no, no tell us your plan."

1:04:55 Marisha: "Keyleth screams. Keyleth just screams her head off for a second."

1:04:56 Vex: "Oh, my plan, okay."

1:05:01 Vex: "You did well, dear."

1:05:01 Percy gently rubs her back, earnestly: "I know how hard that was. I know how hard that was. I know. And I wish I could say I did as well as you did, when it was my turn."

1:05:17 Keyleth to Percy, dismayed: "I don't think I understood until that moment,"

1:05:20 Percy, hugging her: "I know."

1:05:20 Keyleth: "what you did."

1:05:23 Vax: "You'll have your day. Absolutely."

1:05:31 Percy, looking very tired and worried: "We can't… We can't spy on her. We have to be very careful. Well, we can spy on her, but we have to be careful. We should spy on her when she's speaking to Thordak because Thordak might see it. Which would mean that, plan or no plan, everything would be ruined."

1:05:45 Vax: "If Thordak- senses, sees, any one of us in the same place as her, he will go mad."

Vex: "Terrible."

1:05:59 Percy: "And then if I were her, I would destroy the city and all of us, as quickly as possible, and run."

Grog: "Geez."

1:06:05 Vex: "I feel like she needs to talk to the spirit because she's going to try to absorb his power or something."

Keyleth: "She's a fucking idiot. She's a fucking idiot."

1:06:15 Marisha: "What do I know about Melora, and this curse? 'cause there are a lot of Druids that worship Melora."

1:06:23 Matt: "Make a religion check."

1:06:29 Marisha: "That's not good. I never do religion checks. 9."

1:06:36 Matt: "You know that Melora is worshiped by druids of nature, hunters, societies that exist in a more natural setting; as well as ship captains, oversea merchants, in hopes of getting across large bodies of water in weather. She is considered by some to be good, by some to be in a neutral space, and more of a Mother Nature-type entity, amongst the pantheon here, if there was one. And as far as curses go, I mean… You don't have too much experience with curses outside the minor one's you've seen used, or have yourself, at your disposal. But even just from the few of you, Sam especially- Sam, go ahead and roll an intelligence check."

1:07:33 Sam: "Who, me?"

1:07:34 Matt: "Yes."

1:07:39 Sam: "Don't have my thing, hold on. Intelligence? Straight intelligence?"

1:07:43 Matt: "Yes."

1:07:45 Sam: "16."

1:07:46 Matt: "16. You get to add your plus two…"

1:07:48 Sam: "18."

1:07:49 Matt: "And, if you wanted to, add your inspiration die."

1:07:53 Sam: "I will inspire myself. Which is 12 now, right?"

1:07:58 Matt: "Yeah, d12."

1:08:00 Marisha: "Big money."

1:08:00 Travis: "Watch yourself."

1:08:02 Sam: "26."

1:08:03 Matt: "26, okay."

1:08:04 Sam: "Wow, that escalated fast."

1:08:06 Matt: "That's what you can do as a Bard. It's pretty rad. So, through the two of you, conversing over this, there are simple curses that can be imparted for a temporary period of time, usually as a penance to someone who slighted you, some that are a corruption of the land, a blight, if you will, that spreads to a life source, and there are soul curses. Usually where someone feels so wronged in their final moments, that they basically burn their soul, and any possibility at the afterlife. Purely to scourge whoever was responsible for their pain."

1:08:48 Taliesin: "Yeah."

1:08:48 Marisha: "Really no good."

1:08:50 Matt: "It's rarely ever done, because it's essentially accepting a bloody doom. Your existence is done. The gods don't hold any sway over your immortal soul, there is no afterlife, however you die knowing, for whatever that means in that brief moment, that you have scared the individual, in some degree, for possibly the rest of time."

1:08:11 Laura: "Damn…"

1:08:12 Sam: "Do we have any idea how it could be revered or undone?"

1:08:14 Matt: "No idea. And you've heard of it in stories. And it was mostly a folklore element, 'No, I've kind of heard of this,' but if there was anything, this might be it.

1:08:29 Vax: "I worry about her intentions with this thing. Help me remember, when Pike has spoken to dead things, they cannot lie."

1:08:40 Matt: "That's true."

1:08:40 Vex: "Yeah."

1:08:41 Vax: "So she wants to talk to Thordak's… spirit. Who presumably cannot lie, right?"

1:08:50 Percy: "Yes."

1:08:50 Vax: "Which could mean, the cure to this disease, it could mean something to do with that." He points at the orb.

1:08:56 Scanlan: "Yes."

1:08:56 Percy: "It could. And also, this is a third option," he sighs, thinking, "Thordak could have tasked her with… bringing us to him in a way that he feels comfortable with, and only then will he cure her. I believe he holds the cure as sway. This whole thing may be the plan."

1:10:19 Keyleth: "This may be a trap."

1:10:20 Vex& Vax: "Yeah."

1:10:21 Percy: "Which means we do have an ally for defeating the white dragon."

1:10:24 Scanlan: "And should use it."

1:10:26 Vex: "Yeah."

1:10:26 Percy: "And should use it."

1:10:27 Scanlan: "But then, right after…"

1:10:29 Vex: "Kill her."

1:10:29 Percy: "Well, if the opportunity presents itself."

1:10:31 Scanlan "Or shake her."

1:10:33 Percy: "If the opportunity presents itself to kill her there,"

1:10:34Vex: "True."

1:10:34Percy: "In a way that is fitting, where we have advantage, then yes. But if not-"

1:10:40Vax: "Away from this city."

1:10:42 Percy: "In Draconia."

1:10:42 Vex: "We never mentioned J'mon Sa Ord when we got back, so Asum doesn't know about that, or Raishan doesn't know about that."

1:10:51 Keyleth: "Unless she was scrying on us, which is highly possible."

1:10:54 Percy: "Which is highly possible."

1:10:55 Vex: "Do we have no way of having knowledge if someone scrys on us? I mean, they can-"

Percy: "Sometimes we can notice, but often-"

Keyleth: "I would have to have a super-high perception in order to maybe sense it?"

1:11:06 Matt: "Generally, if someone were to scry on you, and you were to succeed on your saving throw, they'd fail to scry, and you'd have some sort of inkling that something weird is going on. If you're a person who is capable of casting the spell, like you are, you would be like, 'Okay, someone's trying to peer through the veil.'"

Marisha: "So, can I…"

Laura: "So you would know. She would know if someone's trying to scry on her."

1:11:26 Taliesin: "Unless they were…"

1:11:27 Matt: "If- If…"

1:11:28 Liam: "If she picked up on it."

1:11:29 Matt: "If she picked up on it. You don't know."

Marisha: "And I never…"

Matt: "You have no recollection of ever having-"

Marisha: "Is there a way I could start… looking out for that?"

1:11:36 Matt: "You can be very, very-"

Marisha: "Conscious?"

1:11:40 Matt: "Conscious of that possibility, and keen on intercepting, should anything like that occur."

1:11:43 Percy: "The other thing that can happen is we set up different forms of attack when we finally go against Thordak. So we have our mode of entry, and the way we are going to be moving that attack forward, and make sure we have secondary lines of attack that she will have no knowledge of, that we will keep separated from her."

1:12:02 Scanlan: "Is there any way to move Whitestone? To reinforce Whitestone? To get something here to protect Whitestone?"

1:12:09 Percy: "A bit, but not a lot. There's just not enough time."

1:12:14

#critical role #transcript #Ep70 #critical role transcript #critical role ep 70 #CRTEp #WIP

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fuwafuwamedb · 5 years ago

Text

Dodging Death Pt 6 (Hakuno, Caster Gilgamesh)

Previously: 1 2 3 4 5

____

Ah, of course.

Magic retainer to lover.

Hakuno stared at the man a moment before she averted her gaze to her drink.

There was nothing to fear here. No, there was a more obvious explanation, one that would explain why Cu hadn’t fully listened and why she wasn’t really reacting strong enough to someone suddenly appearing where her cat had just been standing: she was drunk.

It wasn’t a big deal.

Whatever bottle she’d been partaking in, even though it was such a small amount, was no longer going to be drank in her home. In fact, she was going to go completely and one hundred person sober from here on out. She’d eat right, no more sweets-

…Okay, like one dessert a week.

She’d have one dessert a week instead of indulging in the daily sweets. She’d exercise and train from here on out. She knew Emiya was doing archery with Sakura. Rin did boxing a bit and sojutsu with Cu Chulainn. She could do one of those things. Or maybe she could become a boxer. She could get some serious arm muscle and start really working out.

That’d be cool.

Yeah, she’d learn to box.

“Hakuno…”

The point was, she was going to be a better person. She’d finally lost it. She had imagined her cat transforming into an obnoxiously attractive guy. She was no doubt panicking because, on some level, she’d had unprotected sex with a guy who-

“Shit,” Hakuno breathed.

The man stared at her.

“…How many women do you sleep with?”

If there was a man in her house, which her hand on his chest said there was, then she had slept with someone and not somehow bruised and bit herself. That meant she’d had sex with someone with no regard for consequences.

The man’s jaw dropped, his coughing and pulling back making her feel no better than before.

“Woman, I am not explaining this to you-“

“Are you tested?”

He just stared as though she’d asked something entirely ridiculous.

“Are you tested for diseases? It’s a simple yes or no question.”

“Hakuno, there’s no testing for diseases. One asks their gods to ensure that they are not struck down by illness.”

She cursed, climbing out from under him and onto her feet.

Great. So she’d slept with a guy who didn’t know the first thing about diseases and she’d had that great sex without any regard towards her own wellbeing.

“I could be pregnant with our luck.”

Another big absolute no in her mind. They weren’t doing that. She had classes to attend. She had friends to make and friends to fight with. If someone was going to date her, it would be after they became friends and became close. Emiya had been as close to acceptable as someone had ever become. Since he was a big no, there was no one else.

So, tomorrow morning she’d go and visit the doctor. It was a Saturday. There’d be a few hours at the doctor’s office that she could sneak in during to get a complete workup. She’d ask for some medicine to help prevent this panic from happening again and-

The man’s hand took hers, the blond nearby holding it as though he’d just grasped the most fragile piece of glass in the world.

“…I was not aware that your fertility was so great…”

She shook her head.

“I’m sure I’m probably not,” she told him, pulling her hand away.

They were tabling this conversation. Yes, they weren’t going to be considering that kind of thing when there were bigger problems.

“What’s your name?”

A name would let her know who to look up the next time he came whisking into her home and then scurrying out with the sun. If he was real. She was quite determined to keep that idea far, far from close to mind.

The man nodded, clearing his throat a bit.

“I suppose that this is all quite sudden for you. I hadn’t considered, since you had taken most everything so well, that you would become a bit concerned about a proper introduction. Since I am technically courting you and intend to claim you for myself, it is only just.”

It was only just. The man helped her to sit beside him on the couch and smirked, pressing a hand to his chest.

“I am Gilgamesh, Mage King and son of the god Utu’s child Lugalbanda and the goddess, Ninsun. I rule over the kingdom of Uruk, a kingdom of great prowess and insight. We are the luminaries of the world, the keepers of the great knowledge of the ancients. I defeated the great bull of heaven. I slaughtered the great monster of the Cedar Forest, Humbaba. I partook in the bounty of Uruk’s splendor and rose the kingdom to immense heights to such a level that the gods themselves weep in envy.”

Arrogant.

He was Gilgamesh and he was extremely, unerringly arrogant.

He’s worse than his story.

Hakuno stared at him for a moment, watching him turn that gaze to hers once more as he rattled off his accomplishments. He leaned in closer, that fine face just mere centimeters away from her own.

“I’m Hakuno Kishinami. Student. Librarian. Ancient Studies amateur researcher in the making.”

“Researcher… like on the television?”

Like on…

Hakuno shook her head, “Those researchers are for solving crimes. The only crimes I solve are in artifacts and ancient times. Like- What kind of meaning comes from these old texts,” she motioned at the epic.

“Hakuno.” The man snorted, covering the smirk on his face that said she’d said something incredibly stupid. “If I had my court here, I would forever record the absurdity of your words. Despite your metal horses and your finer technology, I’m afraid you must get your head out of your books and realize that Uruk is just a mere ride or so away from here.”

“The remains of it, maybe.”

She wasn’t dumb. She knew that the remains were out there. They’d made it a historical site and one in need of preservation but-

The man leaned in closer, his frown etching deep lines upon his face.

“Excuse me?”

“Uruk. Its remains exist.”

“What are you talking about? I came from there a mere month or two ago.”

No, she’d plucked her cat off the street a mere two months ago.

“Hakuno,” Gilgamesh moved closer yet. “Uruk cannot be destroyed so easily in two months’ time.”

“This isn’t funny. You can stop this and just tell me your real name.”

The man glared at her.

“Uruk’s been gone for centuries. Millenia. It’s… Hold on.”

She grabbed her laptop, against her better judgement, and turned it on. While it was booting up, she went for her drink, but the man downed it on her, setting her glass down harder than it needed to be set down.

She pulled up a selection of images, opting for the visuals since words probably wouldn’t mean much.

The man simply stared at it.

“…What is this?”

“Uruk.”

“My Uruk has the center ziggurat. There are channels running through the districts to ensure flowing trafficking of goods from one area to another. I have districts with smithies and breweries…”

“You may have had that at one time.”

But he didn’t have that now.

The man pulled the computer into his hands, looking at the keyboard and the mousepad in a strange manner. His fingers pressed to the screen, jumping a little at the fact that she had a touch screen.

“It’s ah… Let me show you,” Hakuno offered.

The man was either a brilliant actor or insane.

As she navigated the sights, showing him the images on the screen, she found him pulling her into his arms. Anything they’d discussed before was permanently tabled. His eyes were running over the images. His face was paling to the color of bleached sheets. Those red eyes were looking at the words, his voice barely getting out the question of what everything said.

“Uruk fell.”

He felt so still.

Hakuno glanced up at him as she read through the downfall of the kingdom. She could feel those fingers digging into her person as she described what she read.

“You should know some of this. There’s a large excerpt on the death of the advisor, Siduri and about the blasphemous clay being, Enk-“

“Don’t.”

Hakuno felt him reach in front of her, closing the laptop and setting it on the floor. His arms pulled her closer to him.

“Don’t speak of this right now. You are a maiden and you allowed me the comforts of your body before. I simply need the feeling of your person against my own. I require your silence and your arms holding me right now.”

That face nuzzled her own. The man holding her shivered and nuzzled her, pulling blankets over their bodies and murmuring softly to her.

“It is always so damn cold in your home.”

“I can’t afford…” Her words stopped at the sight of the king’s eyes closed. There was a wetness that hit her face underneath his.

He’s…

The man could have done anything.

Rage, threaten, scream, grow violent, try to come onto her; all of those things would have had simple answers of calling the police and sending him out of her home. She would have had a drink, called up Rani, complained about the asshole that had come into her home, and gone on with her life. It would have confirmed that the man was insane.

Seeing someone who’d just proudly declared that he pretty much could rule a kingdom and defeat the biggest of enemies begin to look like this…

Hakuno wiped at his face, murmuring for him to release her a moment.

She cranked up the temperature in the house, grabbing the blankets from the bed and bringing them to the living room. She pulled the coffee table closer and, after making a pot of coffee, she wrapped herself under the blankets with the king.

“What is this?”

“Coffee.”

“You enjoy your coffees,” he murmured.

There was nothing not to enjoy about her coffees. She sipped at them, grateful for pouring an ungodly amount of sugar into her drink. The man at her side sipped at his black version of the drink, humming appreciatively.

She set the television to one of those music stations, where it would just play soft music and let them see something just visually pleasing. Her body ended up atop his, nestled into his arms.

“I should find you clothes,” she murmured.

“I have no need for such things right now,” the man murmured to her, burying his face into the crook of her neck. “I have dreamed about holding you for days. Allow me my indulgences.”

“You are not my cat,” Hakuno argued.

“I have seen your naked body more times than I can count on these hands, Hakuno,” the man replied, smirking into her skin. “I know every curve, every dip and inch… I’ve nuzzled this chest you have so many times when I wished to rest.”

The man purred like a cat as he said that last bit.

“Had I possessed you in my time, I would have surely been harassed less about the task of seeking rest. I would have come to my bed far more easily.”

“Mhmm.”

“I know that you don’t like if there’s too much pressure on your chest,” he continued. “You are especially weak to someone moving anything light against your belly and chest though.”

As though to prove his point, he stroked at her stomach lightly, watching her squirm and nearly knock their drinks out of hand.

The mugs were abandoned.

The king pulled her deeper into his arms, kissing lightly at the top of her head.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to argue about his being a cat part of the time. He didn’t seem all that eager to bring it up either. Without that, they were left in a moment of silence, listening to the soft music playing in the background. His hand not holding her close began to brush back her hair gently.

Those lips of his pressed lightly to her forehead, then to the top of her head.

“I found my way here,” he murmured, taking his time to move those hands of his to her back. The man was working miracles on her back, making her sink into his embrace. “I will simply need to recall the magic I used before when we resolve this transformation problem of mine and we can return to my time. We’ll save Uruk.”

“You will,” she corrected, yawning lightly.

“We. Will.” The man tilted her chin up, pausing from his ministrations to look her in the eye. “I cannot promise you that your life will be simple. I cannot promise you that I will senselessly spoil you until you can want for nothing. I learned from a young age that such things cannot satisfy a person.”

That hand stroked her cheek softly.

“What I can promise you,” he continued, “is that there will never be a moment in your life where you are without option. I can promise you the joy that you showed to me upon having your magic freed. I will spend all the time that you wish teaching you how to use that power of yours. I will show you what the ancients, what your ancestors in particular, took great pleasure in while you were forced to live as a mongrel amongst mongrels.”

“You have a kingdom to look after,” Hakuno countered.

“I do.”

“I don’t need to know how to use my magic.” Despite how fun it would be to know, she could always just take pleasure in the fact that she could be lazy about turning off light switches. “Just take care of your people.”

“We will,” he pushed again, pulling her up his person a bit, delving one of his hands into her hair and tilting her face towards his. “I have seen what you are capable of. Harnessing winds to dry my hair, changing the temperature of a space without magic knowledge, harnessing the world’s information into the device you used before; your qualities are endless.”

She had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded nice when he said it. She leaned into that hand, finding him stroking his thumb across her cheek.

“I thank you for the coffee.”

“Coffee always helps. At least, for me it does.”

She fell asleep, deep enough that she didn’t register anything until the sun started to stream into the room. The body beneath hers began to shake, pulling out from under her and waking her up in time to see the shaking of a light golden coat and the soft mewl of her cat.

Gilgamesh was once more G.

“It was too good to be true that you’d stay human, huh?” Hakuno asked, yawning lightly.

The cool air hitting her chest made her look down.

“…Really, Gilgamesh?”

When had he taken her shirt off? Why had he taken her- But there was a bitemark on her chest, showing just off to the side of her aching chest. Shifting merely told her that she was going to be taking a shower to simmer down this morning.

“We’re having a talk about what can and can’t be done when I sleep,” she warned the pet, stalking passed him with her comforter wrapped around her person. “You can forget about any coffee privileges if you become human at all in the next week.”

She showered.

She dressed.

Taking an extra few minutes, Hakuno found herself looking in the mirror.

Other than a bit of fatigue and a couple bruises she’d need to tuck her turtleneck over, she didn’t look that bad. Perhaps magic helped…

Magician Hakuno.

Now if she could just magic some knowledge into her head.

Wait…

Can I?

Hakuno moved into the living room again, finding G swaying gently to the sound of the music on the television. Those eyes opened lazily, regarding her with mild interest as Hakuno sat down.

Wasn’t this always the dream: to simply press your head to a book and gain all the knowledge through an osmosis kind of thing? The book was filled with translations and grammar rules about Sumerian. If she managed it, then she could really talk to Gilgamesh. She’d never have to study again.

A light, inquisitive mewling came from nearby.

“Just a second, Gil.”

She had to check this out.

She pressed her head to the book lightly.

Memorize.

The rush came like the crack of a whip, like a surge of burning heat speeding through her veins. Words and sentences flashed through her mind’s eye. She could feel her mouth and her throat aching for some reason, like she’d been talking for hours and had groan hoarse. The more she tried to breathe, the more it all hurt.

She could hear G meowing nearby, but she couldn’t fully see what was going on. Opening her eyes just made the piercing migraine increase.

Her body grew dizzy.

The floor was coming up to meet her.

And the world grew black.

#drabble #drabbles

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alchemisland · 6 years ago

Text

The Moors Mutt III

‘Her sort.’ I corrected, ‘I'm not aristocratic. I'll probably get a hundred bob from this, of which most must go on sundries. You're a presumptuous sort, you know.’

‘Believe you're not the first to note so. Her sort, I stand corrected. I don't subscribe to this theory. Me personally, I think it came from hell, or was always here. One thing's for certain, it all started when they shifted the old cairn.’

‘You say you have seen it? As I see you now, or as one sees the stars so distant and erroneously assumes all knowledge is had in the mere observing.’

‘As I stand before you.’ Lar gestured to his stained apron, which presently he removed and hung on a hook overhead. He nodded to the barfly, who stumbled from his seat and shot the bolt across the lock, an angry black mechanism like a bas-relief, which clanked against the timber as he let it fall. ‘It were three year ago now. The old witch had a calf issue. Hennigan took the job. Turned out more complicated than the initial report, breached birth. Needing a firm hand, he gave a call, Ferg and I’ Fergus grunted his acknowledgments behind, ‘up we went. It was two or three hours later than it is now, similarly cold with a waning moon. All the heather burned like fire in the dark. Now, them grounds are sprawling. One can easily get lost without a map, a guide or someone knowing. We took Fergus there for our North star. He painted the extension and is resultantly familiar with the lay. Now, are you familiar with the property or its surroundings?’

‘I am not. This will be my first, likely last, visit. Need I know?’

‘It'd help to paint a picture is all. Let me see how to explain.’ Though he stood stock still, his eyes scanned the bar for diorama props, settling on two mugs, two different coloured teatowels and a damp scouring rag, which he began quickly assembling. When at last the craftsman left his work, both mugs sat, as the heavy headed do, lips facing downward, and a set of dice procured from a hidden alcove beneath the sink placed on either mesa. ‘Now’ the barman said, drawing his sleeves to the elbow.

Fergus the mapminded lurched from his chair, rising from its cushioned cage like a zombie from a ziggurat, one leg trailing behind him in the fashion of a gothic manservant. He came to stand beside me. Our eyes observed the same setpieces but his face betrayed little comprehension. Though his jaw was chiselled and little slack, his mouth hung open permanently. Resultantly, his breath came loud, laboured too; as if passing a resin of phlegm lacquering his inner chest, until finally passing what muddied stumps were left him with whistle.

He placed an enormous hand on my shoulder. Such space was permitted between his splayed fingers that a grand carriage, or ten legions abreast might find passage unmolested through. His knuckles bulged and protruded unnaturally, evidence of labour, something harder than masonry or smithcraft. Mayhaps, I thought, in life's spring he had been a soldier man overseas, though I could imagine no circumstance which should mutilate his knuckles so.

I stared hard to his hand. He never looked to me, instead scientifically fixated on the dice, seemingly unaware they would not move unbidden. I coughed, first mannerly then more harshly, thinking to approach cautiously lest my assumption prove provident, that he had lost his sound during foreign campaigns, of whose spoils we all were beneficiaries, and appear disrespectful. Despite a fair crack, I still could not steal his attention.

‘Don't mind him.’ Lar said. He spoke softly in the presence of his friend, observing his movements closely, ready to interject with a steadying hand or a warning to the cruelly curious. I wondered were they brothers. They bore little resemblance, though stranger things I had heard; sailor stories of dog headed men, patagonian giants to whom the looming hills were mere easy gradients to better observe the majesty of their kingdoms. Lar took Fergus’ wrist and pressed gently, disturbing the folds of his motheaten jacket. They shared a moment I could but observe, radiating warmth and glad tidings in a wordless wave. What else but ask.

‘I mean not to speak too boldly, and lash me with spite if I transgress overmuch, but I must know or I should forever wonder, are you kin?’

Fergus shared Lar's laugh with the same look of bemused ignorance, merely feigning comprehension, like a puppy yapping along with his jovial masters. Cruelly I compare the man to a dog only to highlight his virtuous qualities of loyalty and naivity, meekness despite fearsome appearance.

‘You hear that? Fancy man reckons we're brothers. Probly thinks we're all related down this end, and not in a godly way.’ Lar laughed, his viking bellow resounding.

He turned back, releasing his grip. He spoke several octaves lower and more gruffly still, momentarily miming offence at my observation. I went to apologize and explain more clearly no hidden subtext was intended, that I had a great sympathy for rural pleights which many urbanites were ignorant of, but he waved to indicate all was taken as delivered.

‘We are not, brothers. Close friends. Known Fergus here my whole life. Used to be a keen cookie too, once upon a forever ago. Loved languages, Welsh mostly. Pugilism he loved more. One passion consumed the other, as anything burning so intensely inevitably requires cannibalisation to sustain itself. Took one knock too many, stole his wits in an instant. A left hook across the bar sent him erstwhile. Twenty five minutes he was on the shores of night, learning the landscape of the dreamworlds, while we fanned his rigid form, wet his brow and whispered familiar names in his ear. When at last he woke a part of him was left forever in that place. I like to think, boyishly perhaps, it awaits him upon leaving this plain of lousy strife, like the belongings awaiting a homeward jailbird, the raiment of a lost lifetime, another man's cloak. Not for him. He'll slide right into it, fit like a tailored piece, and all of eternity to speak his mind. Not in this life though.’

Tears welled in his eyes. His lips curled. Thinking to save embarrassment, I took the reins, ‘Think nothing of your emotions, man. We each have them. Doubtless I will shed a tear or two up in the old witch's place. Another life awaits, that much is sure. Grander than this. I'm sure he made a fine man. Built like a gladiator. I am sorry to have dredged unpleasantness. I meant only to satisfy my own selfish curiosity. Forgive me. Please, continue your demonstration.’

‘I will at that.’ He placed a finger on either die, holding them in place. ‘This is us, or whoever, they are merely narrative vessels. From the highest floor of the house’ he intimated toward the glasses ‘one can cast their eye across the entire holding, which encompasses so wide an area that from a high vantage one can see distinct variations in the landscape, as if peering through the clouds at the many worlds. Over here’ his hand moved to the green teatowel, ‘neat lawns, yawning pastures, curated blooms and caged trees that grow in strange shapes, reposed like marbled athletes frozen in the throes of competition.’

His hand shifted toward a dunn rag, more stained. ‘Bogs and mire are found here. Bubbling pools wait underfoot. Miasma poisons the air. Waters glow green and flow heavy, viscous. And only a line between them. Late at night it's easy to stray off the pasture, when the cloud is thick and no navigable cluster makes its presence known, what to stop east becoming west, or north south, and soon the blighted marshes appear sudden as a considered blade.’

Only the scouring rag remained, parallel to the towels on the opposite side of the upturned glasses, which he glided toward. Fergus and I followed his movement, identically curious despite his presumed familiarity with the tale. Perhaps his malady was one of retentive failure, each telling being as the first. ‘Last, the stone hills. That's where they dragged the cairn from. Hills formed over an abandoned quarry, where the megalith was hewn. Hard stone juts through soil between tough clumps of windblown reeds. Every step brings new danger. Men tumble to their death, or fall through grass-covered air pockets that lead to the stomach of the world. This is where the beastfolk say the beast waits, dark and terrible. Besides the stories, a written record from 1817, penned by one of the cottage’s former owners, describes a similar creature tormenting his labourers during the grass planting phase of the land reclamation. Hunters came in fevered droves with modified rifles and curious cages, ransacking the animal population in their goldlust. No fox, badger or wayward vole arrived since. The beast remained uncaptured, often entering a period of stasis during the hunts, in which men in angry hundreds fanned the brush and read the stone, bone casters plied their false arcana, trappers and army men employed their government issue techniques, and of course legions of eager aristocrats came ahorse with half-starved muts. Not a hare they found. Not a footprint or a fang fragment. Not a drop of blood. Since, we don't go there. Only Fergus and myself really, on official business like.’

Though his revel ended I urged him continue, any scrap of folklore no matter how fanciful. Anything to satiate my curiosity. Many accomplices knowing my penchant for paranormalia brought newspaper clippings or half-remembered pub anecdotes to my attention, rumours of hellhounds and haunted dolls, of colossal squid hidden in the caves of England’s lakes. Such cases I had investigated and found most spurious or circumstantial, the imaginings of bumkins and ingrates. This was meatier. A written record was a first for my hobby, by an educated man no less. If you can't trust an expert, you might as well spend your anxiety asking a potato for advice.

‘Tell me of your own experience.’

Lar fingered the green flannel, humming apprehensively. Seeing his dismay I reached to embrace his hand reassuringly. He recoiled. After several hurried breaths spent apologising, he cupped my hand. I felt warmth and great stillness.

‘I do not mean to cause duress. If tis too much only say.’

‘I mean to tell you’ Lar said, the thumb and forefinger spanning his brow casting a pyramidal shadow to his chin, which for a moment, in the sickly light of a sagging candle, resembled a mask of raven black and powdered white, some chequered horror. How hard his face seemed with every contour bolded, ‘only I need a drink first. You'll join me? You will.’ he said, answering his own question.

As Bacchus preferred, the glasses were turned upward, with mouths agape yawning for pungent potables. He poured the ambrosia from a dusty jug that more resembled an artefact pulled from the ancient sands than any modern accessory. How it bubbled, like burning flesh, brown as river rock, and how it tumbled easy, settled sleepily and carted you gently home.

‘What drink is this? A fine ale.’ I declared.

The barman tapped his nose and winked, shifting from the shadows, ‘Family secret.’

He drained his own before holding it over his lolling tongue to catch the drops.

‘It were one night. Ferg was there, much as he is now and in similar plight. We'd been called out on account of strange noises from the wood near the worker's cottage. Said they wouldn't work unless we sorted it, and the ones that did show up were so knackered from their crying all night they couldn't muster a smile, let alone drag a rake or control the wild flock. Since childhood we had been told tales of the beast, not to stray on the cairn field at night, lest our bones fill the hidden caves. Unrelatedly we took our rifles, as we would on any mission. We never expected to have an encounter. The worker's accommodation is on the west side, in the shadow of the stone hills, which rises sort of like a fanning lizards ruff along the village's neck, permitting no entry from that direction without the right equipment, even then it's weather dependent. Thinking the beast likely kept to higher ground, not the lower fells which previous search parties sundered in tramping, we came down from the high road proper, curving around the side of the riven crown.'

'It emerged from a nearby copse of trees, far enough that it couldn’t swipe or charge, yet close enough to note every horrible inch. It walked like a horse, on four legs too gangly for its muscular torso so that it appeared strange. Apelike, it loped about the treeline, sticking to the shadows to conceal its dread presence, but those limbs strengthened in the heavy blackness, taking them for a robe. In walking, its front paws, or possibly it was supported by bailed fists, propelled the bulk of its cumbersome form, while the rear set, less lengthy and with knees closer to the ground, dug channels in the dirt. Picture the form of a rabbit reversed, large legs occupying most of its girth as it curls inward. In motion it stretched far enough for its belly to arch, which appeared spun of lighter felt, ashen in the scant moonlight, but close it bundled itself to an imperceptible orb of shadow.'

'Unbeknownst we watched it watching, green eyes like blazing protostars probing for movement, and well it knew or was bidden to choose this site for hunting, one of only two wells being located at a nearby spring. The full anger of this flow can be heard through the rock if one presses at the right spot, the blood of the world coursing, raised to anger if the hiss is any indication.'

'In a flash then it was gone, away into the night without sound, shoed satin. It never walked bipedally, or lurched to attack the groups in twos or threes which passed water-laden, displaying some cunning, or the selfish preservation instinct gifted to even the most basic organisms.’

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