#destiny 2 warlock guide

[l3rking]

The Wicked Implement Post

I’m gonna talk about the new exotic stasis scout, Wicked Implement, ad nauseam over the next however many paragraphs. 

I’m talkin’ stats, buildcrafting, and hard numbers. Real nerd stuff. Keep reading if you’re into that.

Wicked Implement: Exotic Stasis Scout Rifle

There’s been a lot of hearsay and unnecessary hate hitting this gun and I’m here to say that almost all of it is BS. Let’s get this out of the way: it’s not meta-defining, it’s not over powered, it’s not cuckoo crazy... 

...it’s reliable and consistent.

To really get across what I mean, let’s talk numbers:

Stats:

Impact: 62

Range: 62

Stability: 63

Handling: 44

Reload Speed: 41

Aim Assist: 65

Zoom: 20

AE: 65

RPM: 180

Mag: 15

RD: 94

Implement’s stats stand above most others in it’s archetype. Only an Adept Hung Jury or Harrowed DoC can get close. It’s our first exotic 180 in D2 so this shouldn’t be too surprising. It does mean that stat-boosting buffs feel particularly nice (On Your Mark, Hedrons, etc.). 

So it shoots like a normal 180. What makes it special? 

Remember, exotic primaries deal 40% more damage over their legendary counterparts. This means in most mid-high level content you’ll be 2-3 shotting minors with no buffs from a distance. Not bad. And it plays directly into the exotic perk. 

Creeping Attrition, Tithing Harvest, and the Catalyst:

Implement's exotic perk, Creeping Attrition, states: “Rapidly landing precision hits causes targets to become slowed.” Like I said, not flashy or crazy; simple and consistent. So how does it work? 

It takes 3 precision hits to proc Creeping Attrition. 

The buff will last 3 seconds. Every precision hit will reset the timer (timer not shown in game). 

When Creeping Attrition is active, it takes 3 precision hits to freeze on all combatants. Every precision hit within those 3 slows for 4 seconds (6 w/Durance). Note: in PVP: x20 stacks of slow per crit (5 crits to freeze with perk active), same timer.

The 2nd Exotic Perk, Tithing Harvest, will create a stasis shard for precision final blows while Creeping Attrition is active. This shard will track aggressively to the player from any distance. Picking up this shard will refill the magazine. There is a small cooldown after generating the shard (unsure on timer, ~3 seconds).

The catalyst will allow you to overflow the magazine by picking up stasis shards. These shards can be from any source and will overflow the mag 5 bullets per shard up to 30.

Buildcrafting:

Buildcrafting this gun is fairly straightforward. Mostly owing to the simplicity of its perks and how it functions. Thankfully this works to its advantage; creating a solid workhorse that is versatile as much as it is useful. Out of the box it can stun 2 champion types with no assistance (slow for Overloads and Freeze/Shatter for Unstops) but it can also freeze stun Barrier Champs (as long as you don’t miss a crit!). 

The obvious setup is going to be any aspect that generates shards (Tectonic, Grim, and Glacial Harvest on Titan, Hunter, and Warlock respectively) and Whisper of Rime and Conduction to generate overshield and pickup shards. But there are a few unique interactions you should watch out for: 

Grim Harvest on Hunters creates stasis shards when defeating Stasis debuffed enemies. This will stack with Creeping Attrition’s shard creating 2 on kill. Throw in Whisper of Refraction and now we’re regenerating dodge energy on Creeping Attrition kills too. I bring this up specifically to talk about Mask of Bakris. Bakris will give 4 stacks of Arc and Stasis weapon Surge. This equates to 25% damage buff in PvE and 6% in PvP. That is enough to 3 crit T6 and below in PvP at .67 seconds. Not that a lot of folk run less than T6 these days but the bonus damage will catch people out. Bakris buff lasts 11 seconds. Once over, you begin regenerating dodge energy. 

Warlocks also have quite a bit of interaction with Implement. Freezing with Implement will create shards with Glacial Harvest, of course, and shattering that enemy can proc Iceflare Bolts. But the slow from Creeping Attrition crits also stacks with the Bleak Watcher turret. Freezing enemies more quickly. Whisper of Rending should be a mandatory pick with running anything with coldsnaps. A bonus 42% damage to frozen enemies is huge. Especially when you’re freezing enemies from across the map with the same gun. It’s the safest weapon in the game. A soloists dream.

Stasis Titan can synergize with almost anything. Right now I’m gonna talk about the Lancecap. Constant lances, constant crystals, constant shards. Outside of that, it’s more of the same. Safe slows and freezes. You could realistically pair it with nearly any subclass without worry. Use an Incandescent Trace Rifle for 90% of a strike with solar Syntho-Hammers but break out implement to freeze or stun a troublesome enemy before getting right back into the loop. That’s what I mean by reliable. 

The Problems:      

The regard and general opinions of the Destiny Community at-large doesn’t hold much value for me. Especially when they reach a toxic low point like they have recently. Usually from hanging out in the same burnout afflicted echo chambers that they sit in day in and day out. But there can sometimes be a little bit of truth lost in the nuance. Wicked Implement is not making waves and for good reason. There are simply other tools that can do what it does. Some more effectively. Some more efficiently. It’s an unpopular frame of an unpopular archetype. Not every gun can be game breaking or Quicksilver. 

The Conclusion:

I’m a big fan of Wicked Implement. And not just because it’s our first Exotic 180. It is simple, effective, easy to understand, and easy to implement (lol) in any build. There are flashier options, sure. But it will always be a good scout and good scouts will always be useful. Pair it with your favorite fusion or wave-frame, and a god-rolled rocket, and you’re set. You don’t really need much else. AND there’s already been talks of possible buffs in the future. Get in on the ground floor. With Strand being reined back in and possible Stasis buffs, I think folk who get good with this thing now are gonna be a menace in the future. Especially if we get some good Stasis artifact perks in a coming season. 

Gun good Please use :) 

[phthalology]

Destiny 2: Ablution (Eris/Toland)

“I will not tithe to you,” said Toland the Shattered, and Eris Morn’s heart gladdened for it. She stood looking at his wisp in the ritual circle. The air in the Athenaeum was cool, but warmer than the chill she felt when she visited this place in her human shape. 

His welcome refusal to tithe were the first words Toland had spoken to her since she and the Guardian had performed the ritual to transform her from partially-Hive to partially-human.

She was tempted to call her first body a guise, as if the lie Savathûn sowed was true all along. But, no. Eris was human and Hive at once.

And Toland was part of Eris’ plans, not Savathûn’s. She had summoned him here. 

Now, she could talk to him as an untrustworthy guide or as an old friend and almost-lover.

She chose the latter.

She began to gesture. As Toland watched, Eris rewrote the ritual circle with her wit and her runes and her will so that Toland, too, could have a new form. She extended the lines of her ritual circle to the limits of the Athenaeum, green sickles overlapping under the thin skin of reality.

Toland, a semi-corporeal memory of his former Warlock-shape returned to him, looked more human than she did despite his hooked Hive horns. He ran his hands over his hair and horns for a moment before looking back at her with a mix of sympathy and sorrow.

Toland knew already what sleepless nights in strange places Eris had spent on reconciling the two species she bridged, Eris thought. Staring hungrily back at him, the empty space where a worm would be gnawing with phantom hunger, she considered whether he was ally or prey. She certainly didn’t want him to be a supplicant in the way he usually was. Judging by his refusal to tithe, he understood the game board she saw in front of her when it came to his desires. Toland yearned after the Hive in ways aspirational, romantic and ambitiously cowardly. He had thought Ir Yût could save him from the Flower Game, from Rasputin. Well. Neither the Warmind nor the fight between the Traveler and its enemies reached predictable codas. 

Looking at Eris’ new body Toland was uncharacteristically, strategically speechless. He reached a hand forward, the careful distance saying you are beautiful and I am awed. 

He was beautiful too, his three green eyes a perfect symmetry to hers.

“You will not tithe to me because I know full well how you give yourself to your obsessions,” Eris intoned. “And you give me to me on different terms.”

“Yes, yes.” Their cadences matched. “You grow ever more puissant, orbit ever farther out. Dare I ask …” His voice trailed off. Even on relatively solid ground, his lofty tone evoked the endless drops and watchful statues of the Ascendant Plane. “I shouldn’t..” His voice became more wheedling, more like Eris remembered from before the Pit. Toland’s teeth showed in a rictus smile. “I shall. Tell me, dearest Eris, what it feels like.”

Of course he wanted to know. She shifted her weight, from outermost clawed toe to innermost clawed toe. Tattered fabric settled along her craggy arms. Toland’s hungry curiosity gave her permission to indulge in her own. The rictus drew her eyes to his strong jaw, his high cheeks.

“The Guardian feasts,” Eris said. “Others, too, are drawn to my brood. Immaru spreads rumors and truths. And I … feel their strength give me strength.”

“Isn’t it freeing, the ascension?”

“Yes.” She flexed her claws with just the memory of the power and safety-in-numbers flowing through her thick-shelled arms. “But I do not think I will keep it."

“What you did in the Pit was out of desperation. You didn’t want the eyes, but came to see them as your own. Now, does this body reach the limits of your mutability?

“No!” Her voice was resonant, echoing with her new vocal cords and the dimensional ripping of the ritual circle, layered and deep. “I want this. Savathûn set the plan in place, but she was right. Yet something in it feels like …” Oh, she had resisted these words. But in front of him there was no need to do so. He was aware of Savathûn’s schemes, yes, had warned her about them after the Nightmares of her fireteam had appeared on the Moon.

She had been torn away from him then. She did not want to be torn away from him now.

Eris said, “It feels like home.”

Toland moved forward. Long fingers lightly touched the side of her jaw. He explored the ridges there, following them back to where her ears had been. She relaxed her mouth, hidden proboscis lifting off the floor of her mouth.

Toland said, “You are glorious.”

She basked in that. “I …”

He pulled slightly away, but lay his palms against the flat sides of her bony crest. Looked at her with a quizzical, anticipatory gaze.

“I trust only you,” Eris said. “You who have seen my eyes more clearly than any other. See this.” Eris opened her arms and she was powerful, predatory, sleek and poised. Her own body was the sea in which she dove. But it was still a body, and it sometimes ached, sometimes frayed and cracked. The ritual was not a Ghost, which could heal with every rebirth. “Give me a gift, Shattered One. Scales itch and dry on my back I cannot see. Will you help me wash them?”

“I want nothing more,” he said.

She lay on her stomach on the path beside the marshy ground. Her chest plates were as hard as the callouses on her feet, not sensitive to pain. She was already attuned to the strangeness of her body when Toland wiped a cloth across the large spike on her shoulder blades. It was the least intimate part he could find, perhaps; she had those spikes when she crawled out of the Pit. She was used to them.

“Do you feel that?” Toland asked. 

“I do.”

The cloth wrapped around. She felt the coolness and the damp distantly. 

“And this?” He applied firmer pressure and a slight pull, washing both sides of the spike. He gently moved aside the tattered cloth. 

“No more or less than if you held my hands.”

Toland laughed low. His caresses became more exploratory, the cloth running along the long spikes farther up her shoulder. Water dripped to make black specks on the white stone. Toland pressed a kiss to the back of Eris’ head while he wrapped the cloth around one spike after another.

He whispered stupid words, lovers’ repetitive and straightforward affirmations, as he dug dead skin and dust from between the spikes. 

Then he asked, “Do the Hive perform ablutions for their mates?”

“I have seen the Acolytes splash each other,” Eris remembered. “Wizards tend to immerse themselves in pools. Knights bathe in astringent dust.”

“And Thrall are in their morphs not nearly long enough to bathe.” Toland’s voice was full of humor.

“Now, darling. You know better. Some push each other into pools.” 

He gave one dry-throated laugh. 

The cloth dipped between the smaller, sharper spines in the middle of her back. She shifted to keep her back from feeling stiff, and felt Toland’s knee brace against her thigh.

He said, “The skin is dry here.”

Eris said, “In the antechamber there is unguent.”

And so, cool water ran between the scutes on her lower back. Toland followed the direction of the thicker chitin protecting her spine and the back of her ribs, and she was lulled almost to sleep as he stroked and cleaned, humming, occasionally pausing to lift a patch of dried skin off her broad back and drop it to the ground beside her, where she could see for a moment as it drifted through the air like a leaf, shining with miniature scales. He took care around her lower back and the plane between her spine and ribs, picking shed from between plates. Most of the time he was quiet. Sometimes he sang.

She almost slept, but not quite. She wanted to remember that her new body felt both the bright feast of the tithe and the quiet satiety of a need for care. 

[outbreakperfected]

Guide to getting my absolutely cracked damage numbers in Destiny 2

Be insane enough to convince yourself you are the best PvE Stormcaller of all time

Run Stormcaller in an encounter where nobody in their right mind would ever run Stormcaller

Find a group where the hunter is really bad at damage + not using SES while the warlock keeps missing his wells and doesn't have any good weapons for the encounter

Manifest i fucking guess I don't know how this happened I wasn't even using geomags

[3gremlins]

i finally finished a legendary lost sector (solo) and got one of these blasted gated exotics on my warlock (had to farm it x5 times tho).

[image description: screenshot from destiny 2 showing the "Lost in Legend" seasonal challenge is completed: the player has completed a lost sector on legendary or higher]

been trying to do it on hunter but it's way harder and more frustrating T.T

guess i'm a warlock main now (it's hard to beat arc warlocks this season tbf lil arc friend goes pew pew!), but GEEZ i sure hate how they've set this up as the only way to get these exotics

(also every guide is like "here's the best hunter build for farming legendary lost sectors" and the armor exotic is always one that's gated behind the lost sectors so it's like FAM, I AM TRYING TO GET THIS WHAT ELSE CAN I USE?!? )

i've also been working on the legendary lightfall campaign on warlock and i'm at the last mission and all the guides are like "this is actually really difficult, here is a way to cheese it because bungie hates us" which is a bad sign (i tried it a bit last night and am also stuck on the calus fight)

[lowlevelkoboldadventures]

I SOLO'ED SPIRE OF THE WATCHER IN DESTINY 2!!!! ✨🙌😤✨

Here's my adventurer's notes, maybe they'll be useful to someone out there!

(Also, this will all be assuming you know how to already do Spire of the Watcher, but I can make a guide for the basics of that too if you need! I can even take you thru myself sometime if you're curious!)

Intro Encounter: Entering the Bunker (Easy) - I did this all on my Warlock. For this first encounter I used Nova Warp for quick and easy/panic add clear, those new Briarbinds that let you pick up your child of the old gods, Leviathan's Breath for taking out the 4 cyclops that spawn on top of the cliffs, and Veles-X, which is Seraph Season's ritual weapon that has Repulsor Brace and Golden Tricorn - I ran with the Devour aspect for survivability, and of course Child of the Old Gods - For fragments I would really recommend the one that gives devour from picking up orbs/breaches, the one where finishers make you invisible, and the one where killing a volatile target drops a void breach - Really this encounter wasn't too much of an issue for me, as I could just use a finisher to go invisible at any point I was about to die, and my child of the old gods was sucking the life out of everything to the point that I hardly had to add clear. If you're struggling here, consider running helm mods that drop orbs on weapon multikills, as those will act like health packs that instantly give you devour - VERY VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I learned that supplicants ONLY SPAWN ONCE YOU'VE COMPLETED AN ARC NODE!!! If you get all 4 of them to the last node, then complete them all at the same time, the encounter finishes before they can fully spawn in and become a problem

Second Encounter: Ascending the Spire (Easy) - Solar Warlock this time. If you get Heat Rises, it becomes literally SOOOO EASY to hit all the different nodes that you have to parkour to shoot normally - Ignitions will wipe out ALL the adds very easily - DON'T KILL THE HYDRAS!!! They are annoying yes, but killing them spawns supplicants, it's not worth it. (If you're in the air, their bad aim means they hardly ever hit you! Most of the damage you take from them is when they land shots on the ground close to you, so being off the ground negates that!) Third Encounter: Akelous, The Siren's Current (Difficult) - I'm sure there's better ways of doing this, but I did this by running Chaos Reach with the Geomag boots for DPS, the Manticore of all things for survivability, and my favorite ever crafted Stasis sniper, Thoughtless, with Overflow and Focused Fury - My overflow sniper has 16 rounds in the mag, which is enough to take out every single eye at the start of DPS and ALSO miss a couple of times, I highly recommend it - ALWAYS TAKE THE TIME TO TAKE OUT ALL HARPIES IN THE ARENA AS WELL AS EVERY OTHER ENEMY ON THE SIDE YOU'RE ABOUT TO START DPS ON - It doesn't matter too much what heavy you use because Chaos Reach + Geomag lasts so so long that you have hardly any time to do any damage beyond that. I actually ran an add clear grenade launcher instead just to keep me safe - THIS IS AN ENDURANCE RUN. Stay safe by sectioning off different sides of enemies so only a few can shoot at you at a time. The minotaurs have really long ranged lobbing which is always avoidable but will kill you if you don't. Run helm mods that drop orbs with weapon multikills and the 2 of the boots mods that gives you health on orb pickups and you should have no problem staying alive even when you've got nothing for survival other than that. Fourth Encounter: "IT'S GOING PROMPT CRITICAL!!!" (Easy) - I swapped back to my solar build I used for ascending the spire and it was totally easy. If you need to, take the time to find all the 5 nodes before you start shooting them, and it becomes a lot easier. Remember that there's 1 node in the middle in that 3rd room, then two on the left and two on the right!

Fifth Encounter: Persys, Primordial Ruin (Hard) - You know it, you hate it, we've got supplicants all over the darn place, purposefully hiding behind things so you can't shoot them, not to mention the giant angry chicken always on your tail! BUT, I have a secret weapon that nobody would recommend that I think will do just the thing - USE TELESTO!!! Supplicants, if killed by fusion rifles, DON'T EXPLODE, and just disintegrate! But Telesto gets even better when you realize you can shoot the GROUND too! The supplicants like hiding in the bottom middle for when you go to open the door, but shooting a spread at the mouth of the opening they hide at means they all disintegrate right as they chase you! - I used those Briarbinds again, which helped HUGE amounts for the 2 hydras you have to kill, along with the continuous spawning adds inside the core when you're trying to do the puzzle. I would just say "Go cook!" and it would give me devour every few seconds as it sits in the middle of the spawn area and sucks up anything that spawns before it can really be a problem - I recommend using an anti-barrier primary weapon because of the hydras. It's so annoying having to sit and wait for the shield to spin back around otherwise, nobody's got time for that! - FOR DAMAGE: I used a lasting impression + cluster bombs Osprey, and the good old fashioned slowva bomb. To get Optimal DPS: First, you send out your child of the old gods, then you shoot it with the lasting impression rocket, reload, shoot it again, then nova bomb. If you do it right, all of those should hit before the boss leaves the weakness range of your void buddy - 1 shot of Telesto is enough to get the minotaurs down to finishable health, meaning you can go invis as you pick up the buff and run to start shooting nodes! And that's pretty much it!!! I never use guides for any of this stuff so I could be missing out on some things, but this is just what a little low leveled kobold was able to piece together! I hope it helps! 🙌😋

[monriatitans]

"Ta-Da!" List: Tuesday, August 6th

The image was made in Canva; check it out at the [referral] link here!

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

I share my "Ta-Da!" List every day so everyone gets a daily update and I have a reminder of what I've accomplished.

To learn more about "Ta-Da!" Lists, and other ADHD life hacks, check out Jesse J. Anderson's book Extra Focus: The Quick Start Guide to Adult ADHD.

Abbreviations

- O&T: Opinions & Truth Blog - WGS: The Weekend Game Show - RP/SLARPG: Resolute Paladin Super Lesbian Animal RPG - TBR: To Be Read - IG: Instagram - BMAC: Buy Me a Coffee - TDL: Ta-Da! List

"Ta-Da!" List

✧ throughout the day: 1. kept emails manageable 2. loaded the dishwasher 3. filled out today's TDL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✧ on the office setup: 1. YouTube: watched and/or listened to: a. Jim Sterling's videos "Attack Of Mutants - Invincible Monster Dingus", "Get To A Gun - The Nicest, Politest Zombie Apocalypse", "Shadow: Treachery Cannot Be Tolerated - Literally The Worst Game On Steam", "Go Cabbies!GB - The Clone Cars", "Esc: From Planet - The Worst Game To Ever Cost $34.99", "Exile To Death - The Most Disgusting Eating Sound In Games", "Samael The Legacy Of Ophiuchus - The Worst PS4 Game Ever Made", "Mutation Phase - This Game Has It All... Sort Of", "Dusk Of Confinement - Alone In The Literal Dark", "Go Kart Survival - Destiny Warlock's Chibi Butt", "Hacked: Hentai Prison - One Of 36 Bad Hentai Games Currently On Steam", "Angel Light: The Elven Truce - Drunk Skeletons, Sour Grundles", and "Horny Fighter - About As Sexy As A…

--- Read the rest on O&T!

[spermproducingparasiteblog]

A Crap Guide to Destiny 2 - Warlocks

[eremoth]

What Ascendant playtest class would be best for you, a guide.

Because I'm a stupid maniac who can't stop dev work even when I have a mental breakdown from stress and the weight of the world, the Ascendant V0 Playtest (which is not public and never will be) has 10 core classes for any poor motherfucker who decides to play the game to choose from; but which one would be right for you? Lets find out...

THE ADHERENT

The love child of the PF2E Magus and the DnD5E Warlock, the Adherent is a mobile skirmish-fighter with the ability to do the most stupid thing possible, but spells into their sword. Thats right, instead of abusing range, you can run right up to the man who just shot you in the face and hit them with a fireball, by putting it inside of your sword. Fun! Adherents gain the ability to slap spells into their sword by making deals with extremely dubious entities and being general edgy fuckers. The Adherent is the perfect class for somebody who wants a mobile skirmish fighter, but be warned: They lack flexibility with their spell list.

THE ARCANIST

The Arcanist is the world's biggest nerd. Instead of just abusing the unmatched power of the void, or being born with an actual miracle inside of them, or drawing the negative energy from the earth, or making a deal with an actual live demon... Arcanists went to school and studied a whole lot. Arcanists are generalist casters, able to access the most flexible list of spells and excel at AoE damage and utility-based casting; their core feature, Surge, allows them to empower their spells for greater effects.

THE CAVALIER

Do you want to be a dashing, roguish fighter with the ability to dazzle and confuse your enemies with your giant coat and dashing good looks? You should play a Cavalier. The Cavalier is a Dueling specialized martial character who is extremely cocky and good at lying. Their main feature is Flourish, which allows them to wave their sword in a funny way and gain a special dice they can use to do things like... impale their enemies on their swords. The Cavalier is generally just a dashing duel-oriented character, ideal for somebody who likes playing somebody with a severe narcissistic disorder.

THE BEHEMOTH

Do you want to be the Wall? Do you want to embody the spirit of the Destiny 2 Void Titan? You should play a behemoth. Behemoths do one thing super well: Take damage. They gain a specialized Taunt ability that allows them to draw enemy focus, and gain special access to the elusive d12 hit dice, something nobody else has. They gain access to a list of maneuvers based around supporting their teammates and making them the biggest target possible, they are cool, I like them. The Behemoth is ideal for people who want to play out the 'Tank' fantasy and take the frontline for their squishier teammates.

THE EXECUTIONER

do YOU like outputting so much damage your Game Master starts to claw their own eyes out? Do YOU wish that the Rogue from Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition was actually viable? Do YOU want to have a giant sword and hit people so hard their ancestors feel it? Then the Executioner is the right class for you. The Executioner core ability is called... wait for it... Execute. It allows them to add a whole fuck ton of d10s to a very special melee weapon attack when a hostile creature is suffering from an illness or other condition like blinded, or stunned, or grappled, or damned, or any other of the stupid effects I've written. The Executioner is great for somebody who wants to work with their team and put out massive nova damage.

THE SHAMAN

Do you want to play somebody with magic but also a whole bunch of customization options? Do YOU want to commune with the eldritch spirits of nature and call down curses of actual death upon your foes? Do YOU want access to the best battlefield control spell list in the entire game? You should play a Shaman! Shamans gain a special feature called Cruses; Curses actively drain your Sanity but provide either a powerful negative effect or a large aura for your teammates to take effect of. Shamans also gain the ability to tap into other classes' spell lists, or turn themselves into a bear if you choose Circle of Beasts. The Shaman is a great class for anybody who wants to play a customizable half-caster with the ability to be built into anything you really want.

THE TEMPLAR

If your girl wears heavy armor, can smite their foes with the power of god, has a d10 hit dice (when all the other martial have a d8), and can heal people, that's not your girl. That's a Templar! The Templar is a frontline support tank. They're frankly the most complicated class, and have a whole slew of subclass options. They can be specialized into either support or damage, and gain special powers they can use through their class resource, which is the Divine Strength Dice. A pool of d6 they can use for healing, hurt, or to channel the will of GOD (whichever one you like) to do all sorts of fun things, like go fast, or make everybody really really scared. The Templar is a good class for anybody that wants to play a frontline tank with the ability to output good damage and heal.

THE THAUMATURGE

Has your mom or parental figure ever told you you were special? Because the Thaumaturge probably never needed to be told that. The Thaumaturge is a very special boi who was lucky enough to actually be blessed by GOD (whichever one you like) and now is extremely good at doing things like... healing, and burning people with the sun. The Thaumaturge is all about one thing: support. Their core feature, Inner Strength, allows them to restore allies' hitpoints AND sanity, and they gain access to a wide variety of team buff, support, and divine damage spells. The thaumaturge is a good class for you if you want to fulfill a supportive and blessed role in your party.

VOIDWALKER

because some people like to drive themselves insane, and the voidwalker is that guy. The voidwalker looked at the infinite sentient expanse of The void and decided 'imma make it my bitch' even though it could just delete them instantly. The void walker says 'fuck it, we ball' and actively degrades their mental health to roll obscene amounts of dice and add them to their spell damage. Given the fact that they have the second-most damage-focused spell list in the game, you can literally just roll 100d6 and say 'ok fuck you GM, I deal 500 Chaos Damage'. The Voidwalker is a good class for people who want to say 'fuuck it we ball' and delete their mental health while dealing stupid amounts of damage and have a d4 hit dice.

WARRIOR

Do you want to use sword good? Play a warrior. Really I mean it, the Warrior is the premier damage class. Able to use a ton of weapons well, and hit things a ton with their Critical feature, Press Advantage. So when you crit, you get to attack again, no matter how many times you've attacked. If you want to play somebody who's a master of combat, and has some of the most wildly varied subclasses (and most flexible maneuvers) in the game, you should play a Warrior!

And that should do it. I'll see y'all never!

[andiwriteordie]

👋👋👋 tell me your idea for the Merlin/Byler au? 👀👀👀👀👀

toy of COURSE i will tell you my idea for a merlin/byler au. i will like to say first though. because i need somebody to know and i'm being whiny. that i just slammed by finger into my door and it HURTS OH MY GOD.

anyways, first of all, i wrote this half asleep at 5 something in the morning, but this is what i imagined as the opener:

This is a tale of two young men, born to meet one another and to always be by each other’s side. Two sides of the same coin, some might call it. Destiny, others might say.

But destiny is a delicate thing, its strings woven loose yet tight, and the decisions one makes can often begin to unravel those threads, changing them into an entirely new tapestry all together.

This tale is an unusual one.

Because this tale is one that begins where it ends.

so the idea that i was thinking of was to start with how merlin ends, where like we meet will and mike at the end of their story together. will would be like merlin (Most Powerful Warlock™️) and mike would be like arthur (the noble king/knight destined to lead and guide), except destiny is unraveling at its seams. mike is dying, and will can't do anything to save him. even with all his power, he can't save mike's life, so will just holds mike as he dies.

will, like merlin, would be immortal in this, and he would get to hold onto the promise given by the dragon at the end that mike would return—that their destiny and their story together is not yet complete. when the world needs him again, mike is going to return, and until then, all will can do is wait for him. and so, will says goodbye to his best friend and the person he loves most (though the two of them never explicitly say it to one another, which is part of the tragedy), and he leaves the lake alone.

we flash forward, around 1,500 years later to the year 1970, and some way or another, will gets some sort of magical dream that lets him know that soon mike is going to come back, and that he has a choice: he can choose to essentially die and be reborn so he can mike grow up together, because destiny will always bring the two of them together, or he can continue to wait and just find mike again and

the choice gives will an out of sorts. a chance to start over, and though he initially thinks it would be best for mike if he just waits those years until mike is older and it's time for their destiny to kick into full gear, he's prompted by whatever magic-y figure is presenting him with this choice and he's encouraged to make a choice that is for him too. because will has been alone all this time and his heart is heavy, so being reborn would give him that chance to start over and to begin again. it's promised that when destiny does arrive and the time is right, will and mike will both learn of their shared past again (something we'll say with a mix of will's magic and just the general magic existing in the cosmos and stuff), so will agrees to this.

march 22, 1971. will byers is born. a little over 2 weeks later, on april 7, 1971, mike wheeler is born. destiny begins to weave its tapestry again.

the next scene, we see will around late 1983/early 1984 in the direct aftermath of his kidnapping into the upside down. his dreams consist of the trauma he experienced in the upside down of course, and though the memories themselves are foggy, he keeps coming back to his last few hours in the upside down, being intubated and nearly dying. and in foggy memories and moments interspersed between will's near death experience, he begins to dream of his and mike's past life together. these dreams only show fragments—will using his magic and protecting mike's life, mike as a brave knight and a king protecting will in return. it's easily shrugged off by will as him projecting. after all, they're a cleric and a paladin in dnd, right? so that makes sense.

(that doesn't change the terror though that will experiences when his dreams begin to show himself—several years older, weeping as mike dies in his arms. that grief feels paralyzing, and the dream keeps getting interrupted, flashing back and forth between the upside down and his old memories).

next scene, we pick up late 1985/early 1986 in lenora hills, california. will is trying to adjust. he still has nightmares, but they're less focused on the upside down now. the dreams of himself and mike in their past lives are clearer—amplified by the mind flayer's connection from 1984. but there's no way they could be memories, right? how would that even work? and will doesn't have magic. el has magic, not will. he's just will. so will keeps this part of his life quiet, not telling anyone.

one day though, we see a soft willel moment where el opens up to will about losing her own magic—how it feels like a part of her is missing. she's always been forced to use her magic in violent manners, and it scared her for a long time. but now that it is gone, there's a strange sense of warmth lacking. like an old friend is missing, and she just feels different. this prompts will to ask her what it's like... having magic, and so el does her best to explain it.

and it's familiar. there's a tingling in the back of will's next, and something inside him whispers, "this is familiar. you knew this already. you know this. you do."

he tries not to think about it too much.

next scene. november 6, 1986. the world is ending, will byers is living in mike wheeler's bedroom, and one night changes everything.

for the first time, the dream of mike's death comes back in full clarity, and will relives it again. the feeling of desperation and of loss and of love. watching the light fade from mike's eyes and seeing him take his final breath. the dragon's promise to him—that mike would return and that will's job was to simply wait and be ready for him when he arrives. saying goodbye to mike, watching his body disappear in a boat across the lake, further and further from will's view until—

will wakes up with a gasp. he can't see it, but his eyes are glowing a bright, familiar golden. the lights mike's bedroom all shine brighter than they ever have before, and then, they explode.

"shit!" will hears, because mike's awake too. he woke up barely a minute before will did, and he's kneeling down next to will, staring at him with shock in his eyes.

the two of them sit there in silence for moments that feel like an eternity, shattered glass surrounding them, and the moonlight streaming through the window. the memories are back, coming to will all at once. the floodgates have opened, and will remembers. he remembers.

and judging by the look on mike's face, he remembers too.

they move in perfect unison together, and they just embrace. because they both know. they both remember. and the two of them just sit there, and they cry together, because they're will byers and mike wheeler right now, but they've been will and mike for years and years and years before that. and they're together again, and the world is huge and overwhelming, but for just a moment, the only thing that matters is that they're together again.

second to last scene - the next morning. mike's room is now repaired, thanks to will's magic. they're sitting on mike's bed together, knees knocking against each other, shoulders pressed against one another. they have so, so much history together, and how do they even begin to try and fully understand all of it? plus, there are still so many things that will never got to tell mike, and mike, he's a bit hurt that will never shared those things in their first life, but he thinks he understands. he understands why will had to hide those parts from him. but he wishes will didn't have to.

will's eyes flicker to the painting he'd made for mike, now hanging on his wall. ironic, huh, that he would paint himself as a cleric, a wizard... and mike as the knight leading the charge. destiny must think it's funny. he's been carrying the weight of his lie with him since march of this year, and now, he sees how much the weight of his lies hurt mike when they were alive the first time. how he could've saved them both so much grief, and how maybe if he had opened up to mike and trusted him... things could've been different.

this situation... it's not quite the same, but the fear feels the same. it's the same for will, feeling like he has to hide a part of himself from mike, out of fear of rejection, out of a fear of losing mike, out of knowing society doesn't accept people like him.

but this is his second chance, right? how many people get a chance to make amends like this? and will is older now, and he's wiser too. he remembers the 1,500 years he was alone, and in just one night, he's changed. he's not quite the young, scared 15 year old that he was. he is, but he isn't. he's also someone who has lived and watched people die and who has waited and who knows how much he's always loved mike.

so, will chooses to be honest with mike. they talk about the magic first and the lies there, but it's a segue into the conversation about the painting. mike knows that it wasn't from el. but he thinks that will just lied to be a good friend. they fought about it, and in the end, they left it be—just a point of contention and tension in the same way the rain fight was.

will tells him everything—the true intention behind the painting. how he, will byers, has always admired mike wheeler and how mike's his best friend and how the feelings just developed into something more. but also how he, will, fell in love with mike... a long, long time ago. how he knew it, but also knew they'd never be able to be together. how he'd accepted that his place was simply at mike's side, protecting him and guiding him as best as he could. how he was content with that, but deep down also always dreamed of something more when they were alive together. how his years without mike only solidified the fact that will loves mike truly, deeply, fully, and how he plans to be here for mike, in whatever way that looks like and whatever way makes mike happy.

it gets quiet in the room. and mike looks a little stunned at first, still trying to take in all of will's words. patience, though, is something will has learned over his life, and he gently tells mike that he doesn't have to say anything right now. that mike can take the time to think about it too—

and mike cuts him off by kissing him.

it's short and desperate but also hesitant and a little fearful. mike pulls away, his eyes wide, and he looks young. they're both still young, even though they've had entire lives as adults (and then some more for will lol). and he quietly admits that he, mike wheeler, has been so confused recently. because he's been told his whole life that boys... aren't supposed to love other boys like that. that he shouldn't have these feelings for his best friend, so he's been hiding and running from this part of himself—the part that does have feelings for his best friend, will byers.

but also, that he, mike, the one who knew will long ago had fallen just as deeply in love with him while they were together. it was never an option to love will like this. mike always had his life planned out and written for him—the knight, the prince, the king. he had to have an heir. he had to rule their kingdom. he couldn't be with will.

but god, he could keep will close. maybe it was selfish to keep him so close while knowing he loved will as something more than they could ever be, but then again, mike thinks he's always been a little selfish. and he could swallow back that lump in his throat that formed every time will smiled at him or made a teasing joke or did anything really, because every moment with will made mike feel like he was falling more and more in love.

he almost told will, that day... when he died. he almost said that—instead of the "thank you" he gave will instead. but something stopped him. a feeling that... their story wasn't over yet. that a better time would come to share those words with will.

and so, mike looks will in the eye and in the softest, most gentle voice, he confesses his love for will.

the two of them kiss again. will's magic makes the lights glow again, and mike laughs, making some comment that this is going to take some getting used to. will points out that it's been a good 15 years since he's used his magic... so it's gonna take some getting used to for him as well.

it becomes clear to both of them that they were brought back together for a reason—and that reason has to do with the upside down and with henry. henry's powers, like el, are magic based, and so now, the playing field is leveled with will's magic. hell, the scales have tipped in their favor because of will's magic. this is their destiny. this is how they're going to save the world. and you see a moment of weariness from will, who recognizes this, and recognizes the burden they're sharing.

mike gently pulls him close, pressing a kiss to will's forehead, and he just tells will that they can figure all of this out later. destiny's waited this long, right? they can be selfish. they can just be together.

and so, the scene just ends with them sitting there, arms wrapped around each other, and sitting in peaceful silence. and nothing else matters other than the fact that they're together.

the final little part would be a section to mirror the opening part, talking about destiny. how these two were brought together and born to find each other. how destiny's tapestry is still being woven and how choices will impact that. and how the tale isn't over yet, but that there's hope in the ending of this story, because will and mike are together once more.

pHEW did i just outline this whole fic in your ask? yep. that's the merlin/byler au that i was thinking of this morning. i have some slight thoughts on how i could expand the world (making other characters line up/parallel other merlin characters and being reincarnated versions of their past lives), but idk i haven't given too much thought to that and probably wouldn't go as far as to write that! but this oneshot... yeah, definitely adding it to my list lol.

[the-light-finds-its-way]

Velliks decides to spend some time meditating under the Traveler one day, as Warlocks do. With two arms at his sides, and another 2 across his chest, he closes his eyes, and asks it, "Am I wrong for becoming Eliksni?"

Then, he suddenly gets a vision. The Traveler in the distance, from the Tangled Shore. Sjur Eido is at his side, and he is Awoken again. She places a gentle hand on his arm, and asks, "Harn. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am," Velliks replies, his voice slightly different. "I'm leaving this Traveler-forsaken pit of lies. I'm done serving Mara. I need to go!" He looks down at his clothes, Awoken Corsair ones. A tear streaks his blue face.

Sjur nods. "I understand, Harn," she tells him. "We'll miss having you here, but the Dreaming City isn't for everybody. You helped build it. You've done your part. Now, it's time to find your destiny."

Velliks nods. "Thank you for understanding." He throws his arms, just two, around Sjur for a moment, then backs off. "I'll miss you all. But I promise. I'll be better off on my own." He turns away, and walks into a ship.

The view pans to the ship jumping into hyperdrive, then time passes. Velliks can feel it. Suddenly, he's in the ship, and there is turbulence. Velliks scrambles to find buttons as fire bites the hull. Suddenly, he reaches for the comms device, and says, "This is Harn Vokus, of Corsair ship 2995. I'm headed for an unknown sector of the Tangled Shore, and I'm not sure I'll make it. Please. Send help. I'm sorry I left..."

The vision flashes. And there, Mithrax is standing over Velliks, as is a Ghost. The Eliksni holds out a hand, and asks in his native tongue, "Na, Guardian?"

Velliks tilts his head. The Shore is much different here, and the ship is overgrown. Much time has passed, obviously. "What?"

The Ghost shines their light over the Awoken, and the tattered Corsair clothes become a long, flowing Warlock robe. "The Kell is asking if you need help, little Warlock."

Looking down at himself, Velliks looks up at Mithrax, and says, "Where am I? What's my name?" He shakes his head, sighing. "I suppose I could use some help. Thank you." He smiles, and Mithrax takes his hands, pulling him up.

"Apologies. I forget you wouldn't know our tongue. Your clothes were... not from here. It would seem your ship crash landed. Do you know anything about that?"

Velliks looks at the ship, raising an eyebrow. "This is my ship? I don't remember what happened."

"It's a Corsair ship," Mithrax tells him. "But that's not important. What is, is that we get you to safety. My House will guide you. Protect you. Until we have means to get you to the Last City where your kind—Guardians—live. Come with me, friend."

The vision fades.

And Velliks opens his eyes.

When he called for help, no one came. When he was dying, nobody saved him.

When he awoke, Mithrax, and the House of Light, protected him. Loved him. Gave him care.

Velliks's reawakening was not that of being an Awoken, it was that of becoming Eliksni. He became one of them because it was where he truly belonged. The Awoken abandoned him when he abandoned them. It was time to move on, to find something better.

Another vision flashes in Velliks's eyes. This time, he is Eliksni, serving as the Captain he is alongside his house. He calls out commands, and the House follows, as they battle the Vex invading their home in the Last City. They survive, cheering, as Magnus closes the portal once and for all.

The Titan goes and holds out a hand to Velliks, who claps it, and both say, "Ren ke na." For House Light.

"You fight well for a New Light," Magnus tells him in Eliksni. "Thanks for covering my ass there."

"Hey, it's an honor," Velliks replies back in Eliksni. "I wouldn't have made it without you. My family wouldn't be here if you didn't kill Quria."

"I understand. I'm always here for the people of this City. That includes you all. Every Eliksni."

Velliks smiles, and hugs Magnus.

Magnus smiles, and returns the hug. "The Light provides."

"The Light provides."

The vision fades, and Velliks smiles wider now.

He has a family, friends, a home. With the House of Light, with Magnus, within the Last City. He has more now than he could ever have hoped to have before. He's got everything now he never had with the Awoken.

Love.

And Velliks looks to the Traveler. "Thank you," he says, "for showing me the way."

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Long Lost Prince Part 2;

Merlin leads his people home and Arthur grapples with whether he should keep his feelings to himself or not.

Part 1

Just like Arthur promised, a portion of Camelot's army mixed with around fifty of Merlin's knights are marching towards the Dragonlands within a month.

Merlin and Arthur lead the way, Sir Thornway, Sir Leon, and Sir Mordred following closely behind. It was decided fairly quickly that Hunith and Gaius would stay in Camelot; they were desperate to get home, but they weren't fighters, and whilst the chance of attack was fairly low considering the army behind them and the two dragons circling ahead, Arthur and Merlin were unwilling to risk it.

At a quick pace, Arthur reckons they could've made the journey in a week, but the army is slow-moving, and it takes them almost three to reach the border. They don't hear a peep out of anyone as they move through the countryside, though Arthur does raise an amused eyebrow at Merlin every once in a while, as and when the Warlock chuckles at Kilgharrah whispering in his head about all the various pathetic mercenaries and bandits running away screaming at the sight of his silhouette against the clouds.

The Dragonland, in comparison to Camelot, was a very small kingdom, but it’s capital city was near the far border, backed by miles and miles of towering mountains. In one of the many sessions of reminiscing that Merlin, Thornway, and Kilgharrah have in the evenings, they discuss the mountains at length. They were mostly uninhabited by people, even before the purge, they were far too treacherous for those without a guide and strong magic, and even then the paths were still dangerous.

The great mountains were where the Dragon’s resided; in a network of twisting tunnels and great caverns carved with fire and magic. Merlin vaguely remembers being taken there a few weeks before... before they left. Thornway told him that retreating into the mountains was one of the back up plans, if Uther’s army was too big and there was no hope of escape through the countryside.

(Arthur frowned at that. He was frowning at a lot nowadays, but Merlin just squeezed his leg under the blanket they were sharing (Leon did NOT smirk and Arthur did NOT blush) and whispered, yet again, that he was not his father.)

The escape through the mountains was planned to be a last ditch effort though, even with the dragons leading them and their strongest sorcerers protecting them, the perilous paths, with their knife edge drops and loose rocks and harsh snow, would have taken too many casualties to count. Though, in the end, escaping through the countryside had been just as deadly.

Arthur also used the journey to think about what Leon had said. Though Merlin and The King stuck close by for the whole trek, conversation was sparse (though the silences were comfortable); Arthur was unsure how to bring up the inevitable change in their relationship, though he knows that, for his own peace of mind if nothing else, he should.

They were deep into the Kingdom, having passed all the now doubly abandoned outer villages (Arthur was right in thinking that two dragons and a marching army scared away all the various mercenary groups and bandits) and now only a day’s ride from the capital, that Arthur asked Merlin the question that had been plaguing his mind for weeks. The two of them were sat against a fallen log, the night flourishing around them. The silence over the rest of the camp was tense, the knowledge that they were close hanging in the air, but the silence between Merlin and Arthur was comfortable, peaceful:

“What are you planning on doing?”

Merlin took a noticeably deep breath and Arthur turned to him, trying desperately to keep the worried frown off his face:

“I don’t know. I didn’t really discuss it with ma, we just... wanted to get home, and work from there, see what happens I guess.”

Arthur nodded, gulping slightly before he responds:

“Do you think she wants the throne? Your mother? Or will you become King?”

Merlin chuckles, but Arthur clenches his hands and looks away at the humourless lilt the noise has:

“I’d love to see her back in her crown, on her throne, but it’s been a long time. She did everything with my father by her side, I don’t know if... if she would want to do it on her own. I don’t know that she would cope.-”

The Warlock turns to face Arthur, and it strikes The King how close they are when he can feel Merlin’s breath on his cheek. He turns to meet his gaze once more:

“-What would you do, Arthur? In my place?”

Arthur can only hold his stare for a few moments before he looks to his lap, shaking his head slightly:

“I don’t know, Merlin. Tell me what’s on your mind, I... I can’t promise that I’ll have the answers, but maybe saying things out-loud will help.”

Merlin nods as he shuffles in his spot slightly, and Arthur likes to think that he was moving closer:

“I... I’m desperate to get home. But at the same time, I waited. I waited for twenty years, I’ve built myself a life in Camelot, I’d... given up on ever returning home, and I was just about coming to terms with the fact that Camelot was my home now. And then... this. I have to lead my people back, I know that, I owe it to them, it’s my job to protect them and give them back their heritage-”

Arthur interrupts quietly:

“Your heritage.”

Merlin sighs:

“-yeah, my heritage. My mother, and Gaius, and my people, and... and I, we deserve to go home. But I was only six when we left, I never got all the lessons on how to be a Politician, a King. Yes, I’m the heir, yes, I remember home and the crown and being a little Prince, but I am not built to be a King, Arthur, I don’t want to- I can’t fail my people, but I fear I will. I... I’ve been putting up a brave front for my mum, for Thornway, but I’m terrified. I have no idea what I’m doing, Arthur. What if I mess up?”

Arthur allows a small smile to slip onto his face as he takes Merlin’s fidgeting hands in his own. He shakes his head as he huffs out a short laugh and Merlin looks at him incredulously:

“You couldn’t possibly, Merlin. I know you well, do I not?-”

Merlin nods his head vigorously:

“Better than anyone.”

Arthur fights the blush:

“-And I’m telling you, that you have nothing to worry about. You may not have had official lessons, but you have the mind for politics.-”

Arthur glances to his lap briefly as he takes a fortifying breath, stroking his thumbs over the back of Merlin’s hands, still clutched in his, and looking up to him again:

“-I had all those lessons. All that training, and practicing, and tutoring. But I was still so... lost when I became King. I don’t think I ever told you, Merlin, but the only thing that got me through was you, always by my side. Because I knew that you would never let me fail, because I trusted you to see my shortcomings and make up for them without fuss, without fault. And you did, without asking for any thanks, or recognition, like you do with everything. To this day, you think I’m a good King because of destiny, but that’s utter bollocks and I’ve always known it. I’m a good King, Merlin, because you made me a good man first. And on days when I doubt my own rule, I remind myself of how much faith you have in me, and it gives me strength, because I know you would never allow me to fail, and on the off chance I fall, I know you would catch me. Every good King who cares about his people has doubts, Merlin, but however much faith you have in me? I have the same amount, if not more, in you. You’ll do just fine.”

Merlin looks at him with wide, teary eyes, and Arthur flushes under the scrutiny. The King goes to say something, maybe a flippant joke to de-charge the atmosphere, but before he can utter even a word, Merlin throws himself at him, wrapping tight arms around his shoulders and burying his face in his neck. Arthur almost falls back, but he holds steady, chuckling slightly as he returns Merlin’s hug with equal intensity. Merlin’s muffled voice from his shoulder has Arthur tightening his grip:

“Will you catch me? If I fall?”

Arthur moves a hand up to cradle the back of Merlin’s head:

“You won’t fall. But I’d spend the rest of my life stood below you with my arms out ready, Merlin, if that gave you just a fraction of the belief in yourself that you should have.”

Neither pulled away for what felt like hours, and by the time Thornway wondered over to check on them, they had fallen asleep against the log, arms still firmly wrapped around each other.

He smiles mournfully as he drapes a blanket over them. You would have to be blind to miss the odd moroseness that had overtaken them both, and the old knight knew that his Prince was dreading having to leave Arthur, and that Arthur was dreading the same. They shuffle in their sleep, and Thornway freezes, worried that he had woken them, but when Arthur just mutters Merlin’s name and moves impossibly closer to the other man Thornway sighs. This is going to be... painful for the two of them, and he’s not quite sure how he can help.

~

After another day of travel, they find themselves moving through the capital city, towards the castle sitting at the foot of the mountains.

The army was left with orders to methodically clear the city whilst Arthur, Leon, Thornway, and Mordred headed straight for the citadel gates. Though the city had fallen into disrepair, the castle looked like it had barely been touched, even by the elements, and Thornway explained that powerful enchantments laid over the ancient building, preventing it from being invaded or damaged by even the strongest of armies:

“It was meant to be a stronghold, somewhere we could hide and keep our people safe in emergencies, but we knew if we did that we would have backed ourselves into a corner. Uther was taking over more and more of the city every day, if we locked ourselves in... we would have just starved. Trying to escape through the city and out into the wilderness was our only hope.”

Merlin nods absent-mindedly as he stares up at the main door:

“Can we even get in?”

His voice is quiet and shaky, and Mordred steps forward to put a hand on his shoulder as Thornway replies with a small smile:

“You’re the heir, the doors will always open for you, Little Falcon.”

Merlin replies with a weak smirk and flushed cheeks:

“You know, I’m not all that little anymore.”

Thornway barks out a laugh as he shakes his head slightly, ruffling Merlin’s hair as the younger man pouts:

“Well, you’ll always be littler than me.-”

Merlin goes to retort, but before he can, his knight steps back and gestures to the great doors in front of them:

“-Go on, it’s time for us to finally come home, I think.”

Merlin gulps and nods, and Mordred lets his hand fall back to his side as the older Warlock takes the steps two at a time, hesitating only slightly before he wraps his hand around one of the doors’ metal rings. It twists easily in his grip, and the door swings open. Merlin has to take a step back and cover his mouth with his sleeve as he coughs, the billowing clouds of dust being disturbed for the first time in two decades making it almost impossible to see into the dark hall.

It settles after a few moments and Merlin takes a deep breath, reaching behind him wordlessly and relaxing only when he feels Arthur take his hand. The blonde King gives his hand a comforting squeeze, and Merlin takes his first shaking steps across the threshold.

He walks through the dark corridors slowly, one hand tightly clenched in Arthur’s, the other trailing along the wall next to him. The rest of the group is silent as they follow him, and nothing can be heard bar their muffled steps over the dusty rugs, and the deep breathing of Merlin and Thornway.

Merlin seems to know where he’s going, so no one questions the corners he turns and the rooms he passes without second thought. The deeper into the castle they get, the darker it becomes, until finally Merlin stops, a long hall stretched out in front of him. His eyes flash gold and the torches lining the walls flare up, illuminating the corridor in golden light. Arthur turns to look at the Warlock beside him, empathetic tears gathering in his eyes as he sees tracks on Merlin’s cheeks. 

Merlin turns to glance at Thornway, whose in a similar state, before closing his eyes and flattening his free hand against the wall, digging his fingertips into the cracks as his voice comes out quiet and raspy:

“I know these halls, this stone.-”

Thornway takes a deep stuttering breath, muttering Merlin’s name. Merlin steps away from the wall, looking back to his knight with a weak, teary smile:

“-Do you remember? Chambers filled with golden light, vast halls bustling with people and dragons and magic?”

Thornway gulps and nods, slowly moving towards Merlin and putting a hand on his shoulder:

“I remember.-”

He nods down the corridor, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat before asking:

“-You remember what’s down there?”

Merlin smiles and nods, squeezing Arthur’s hand and leading the group down the hall, obviously impatient to get to wherever their destination is, but unwilling to walk any quicker.

Leon and Arthur share a confused and slightly concerned look but don’t say anything, allowing Merlin and Thornway to lead the way. Once again, Merlin hesitates only slightly before pushing the door at the end of the corridor open. and the six of them gather inside the immense chamber. Like the rest of the castle, it was dusty, but untouched; unlike the rest of the castle, it was bathed in colourful light. The walls were high, the ceiling obviously stretching far above the surrounding rooms, and the afternoon sun shone brightly through giant stained glass windows. 

Reds and blues and greens and every other colour imaginable were splashed across the stone floor, painting pictures of dragons and flowers and family, but everyone’s eyes skip over the colourful artwork, instead being drawn to the two golden thrones sat on a dais at the other end of the hall. Merlin lets go of Arthur’s hand, walking towards the thrones with wide eyes as the others stay back, watching with a mix of pride and grief. Thornway follows after a few moments and Leon has to put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, shaking his head slightly when the King looks at him. Arthur clenches his hands and looks away, but stays by the door, wanting more than anything to be with Merlin through this but also understanding that it wasn’t his place.

Merlin finally reaches the thrones.

He wipes the thick dust from the armrests with shaking, but reverent hands before sitting down on the steps, slightly to the side of the golden seats. He runs his fingertips over the stone, remembering every bump and crack and texture, and Thornway stands behind him, in line with the thrones, putting a hand on his shoulder and muttering:

“Now this brings back memories.”

Merlin nods, looking up at him, tears no longer flowing, but still gathering in his eyes:

“I... I don’t remember much, but I still... know. I know this is where I sat, with you behind me, ma and dad next to me on their thrones. I remember dad promising that when I was older, they’d have a throne made for me, so I could sit with them.”

Thornway nods, slowly moving to sit beside him, ignoring the creaking in his bones as he lets his weight fall onto the stone steps:

“Hmm. foreign royalty and dignitaries thought it odd that the King and Queen let you sit in on meetings, even as a young child, but they were always adamant; they didn’t want to hide you away. You were always safe, of course, but they wanted you exposed to the people and the people exposed to you. I suppose they wanted to nurture a natural love and protectiveness of your people in you; how could they expect you to serve the Kingdom well if you were only doing so out of duty, and not genuine love?”

Merlin hums thoughtfully before smiling briefly up at Arthur, still stood on the other side of the room. When Arthur tentatively returns the smile, despite not hearing the hushed conversation, Merlin looks to Thornway next to him, bumping shoulders with a short giggle:

“Probably why I’ve always been so disrespectful to Arthur, everyone in here was equal, no matter what. I guess that’s why the treatment of servants and commoners was such a shock when I moved to Camelot, I don’t really remember much of home, but it definitely felt different.”

Thornway nods as Merlin stands, holding out a hand to the knight and pulling him to his feet. Merlin’s gaze moves around the room, though he stays rooted to the spot, and Thornway asks his question quietly:

“What do you want to do? Do you want to finish clearing the castle and the city first, or fetch your mother and uncle first?”

Merlin gulps before taking a deep breath, staring at the floor and saying in a small voice:

“I don’t know... what do you think I should do?”

Thornway chuckles and shakes his head:

“This is your decision, Little Falcon. You are the Crown Prince, this is your Kingdom, your city, your people, trust your instincts. What should be done?”

Merlin looks to Arthur once again, reminding himself of the King’s promise to catch him should he fall, before looking back at Thornway with a determined expression:

“Send Kilgharrah to fetch ma and Gaius. We no longer need him as a deterrent, and we’ll still have Aithusa. He can make the journey to Camelot and back in a week at most, knights, even on horseback, will take at least twice that. It’s been a while since either of them went flying, but they’ll remember soon enough, and I trust Kilgharrah to keep them safe. We can keep clearing the city and start rough plans for rebuilding whilst we wait.”

Thornway grins and nods proudly:

“Exactly what I would have suggested. See? You’ll be just fine.-”

Merlin returns his grin shyly, blushing slightly as he rubs the back of his neck. Thornway rolls his eyes good-naturedly before gesturing to the others:

“-Come, My Lord, we should let the others know and head out to send Kilgharrah off as soon as possible.”

Merlin pushes the older knight’s shoulder playfully at the use of a title, but Thornway just smirks and waves Merlin ahead of him.

~

Arthur, Leon, and Mordred were told of the plan as the group made their way out of the castle again, having to cover their eyes when they step into the bright sunlight. They all smiled fondly as they saw Merlin’s growing confidence, though Arthur had to stamp down the growing anxiety swirling in his stomach; he refused to be sad for himself.

Kilgharrah was flying back towards Camelot within the hour, and Merlin was separating the army into groups and assigning tasks with a strong voice and straight back, taking every question and suggestion in his stride and organising hundreds of people without issue.

Arthur knew that there was still a conversation to be had between himself and Merlin, though with every day that passed he questioned whether it was the right thing to do. He wasn’t oblivious enough not to notice the way Merlin always asked for his council, even when he didn’t need it, always searched for his eyes in the crowd when he addressed his people, but that didn’t mean that his... affections, were returned.

Everyone, even Thornway now, kept shooting him pitying looks, and he figured out fairly quickly that he wasn’t as subtle as he’d like to believe. Leon was the only one he could rely on to convincingly pretend nothing was wrong, and Arthur used that to back up his deliberate ignoring of his stupid emotions.

Six days had passed and the clearing of debris from the lower town was well on its way when Kilgharrah landed in the castle courtyard, his two passengers tense and teary. Only Hunith, Gaius, Merlin, and Thornway took the journey through the castle this time; the others continued to help with the work in the town, not quite feeling that they would be welcome on the emotional tour.

Hunith decided fairly quickly that she would move on to become Queen Mother. Merlin would be crowned King (though he put his foot down and insisted that it wouldn’t happen until everything was properly sorted, and the people were settled back in the city), and though Hunith would still be the most senior of the royals, Merlin would technically have the most power. 

Arthur had mixed feelings about that. 

As King, Merlin would be a lot busier, would have a lot more responsibilities, but equally, he would have much more control over the use of his time; somehow making it both harder and easier to organise visits between the two of them. Though Arthur, of course, didn’t mention such feelings, just pulled Merlin into another tight hug and congratulated him with a grin.

With the help of Merlin and Mordred’s magic, and the few sorcerers scattered throughout the army they had brought, clearing the town of debris and rebuilding what they could with whatever was left went fairly quickly. Soon enough, the blacksmith’s and an infirmary were up and running, and the farms were ready for work to commence, just as soon as the resources from Camelot arrived.

The castle, whilst it had been fully explored by Merlin, Hunith, Thornway, and Gaius, had yet to be opened up to others or cleaned properly, but no one mentioned it. The gang slept happily in homes rebuilt in the upper town, and accepted Merlin’s excuse of wanting to focus on the people’s infrastructure first.

It was a week or so after Hunith and Gaius had arrived, Kilgharrah and Aithusa had disappeared into the mountains with Merlin’s approval, and Arthur once again found Merlin stood in the otherwise empty, still dusty throne room, staring at the golden seats with his hands in his pockets and his face tense.

Years ago, Arthur would’ve been wrong in his assumption that Merlin hadn’t heard him approach, but just this once he knows that he’s right. Arthur had slowly become an expert on picking up Merlin’s ticks, and even in the low light of the evening the blonde could tell that Merlin had no clue he was there.

Arthur didn’t want to feel like he was intruding, so cleared his throat quietly, only walking closer to the other man when his head whipped around, smiling slightly when he saw it was just Arthur.

Arthur stepped up next to him, and they both stared at the thrones in silence, shoulders brushing ever so slightly. Everything had been so busy in recent weeks that, other than the conversation two weeks earlier, Arthur and Merlin had spent barely any time together, just the two of them; every other time Arthur had found Merlin alone in the throne room he had shut the door quietly behind him and left, too afraid to intrude, not quite ready to start a conversation. The conversation.

After a few minutes, he clears his throat again and speaks in a quiet voice, not looking to the Warlock next to him:

“What’s on your mind?”

Merlin responds almost immediately, but like Arthur, he speaks quietly and doesn’t move his gaze from the thrones:

“Nothing, everything. I’m... doing ok, I think.-”

Arthur nods with a small smile, but Merlin continues before he can say anything:

“-But I’m scared that I’m only doing well because you’re here. You have to go back to Camelot eventually and... it sounds stupid, but I... I don’t want you to go. I need you, Arthur.”

Arthur gulps, finally looking to Merlin’s sorrowful face, though the other man refuses to meet his gaze. He takes his hands out of his pockets, fiddling with them roughly, rubbing his knuckles together and scratching his palms harshly. Arthur clenches his jaw, taking one of Merlin’s hands in his own gently and running soothing fingers over the younger man’s callouses:

“I know what you mean.-”

Merlin looks to him in surprise, his eyes widening, and Arthur continues with a small smile:

“-I told you, Merlin, I’m only a good King because of you. I’ve never had to rule on my own before and I’m dreading going back to Camelot without you.-”

Merlin shakes his head roughly, but Arthur continues once again, before he can disagree:

“-No, Merlin, don’t argue, it’s true. I... I need you as well, I don’t want to be without you, and I’ve no clue how I’m going to cope with a week’s ride between us. Leon tried talking some sense into me back in Camelot, and I know he was right, that all relationships take effort and we’ll have to work incredibly hard to stay in each other’s lives in any significant capacity, and I’m absolutely willing to do anything to keep you close, if not physically then... otherwise, but I’m still...-”

Arthur sighs and looks away, his cheeks just a little bit pink as he continues quietly:

“-I’m still scared to be without you.”

Merlin gulps and squeezes Arthur’s hand in his own, waiting for the blonde to finally look up at him again. The Warlock smiles at the eye contact and Arthur returns it weakly as Merlin finally replies:

“The last ten years of my life have revolved around you, completely and utterly, and I know it’s selfish of me to... not want that to change. I know I’m staying here, with my people, as their King. I would never consider abandoning them, not really, but I desperately want to, just so I can stay with you. We... we’ll figure something out, find some way to communicate quickly. I’m magic incarnate, there has to be a way, I... I’ll make a way, if I have to.”

The tears in Arthur’s eyes finally overflow at Merlin’s determined tone, but before the other man can say anything about it, Arthur pulls him into a tight hug, clutching his cloak in shaking fingers and burying his face in his shoulder, for once feeling grateful for the extra inch in height that Merlin has on him. Merlin returns the hug without hesitation, closing his eyes against the tears, though not managing to stop them from falling as he quietly speaks, his voice thick:

“I promised that I would stay with you until the day I died, but I... I have to leave, I... I can’t-”

Arthur tightens the hug as he interrupts him:

“No, Merlin, you owe me nothing, you don’t have to explain. You’ve already given me my kingdom, now it’s my chance to return the favour. I would never ever ask you to leave this behind just for me.”

Arthur can feel Merlin’s body shaking with silent sobs, and he runs a hand through his hair softly, breathing deeply in an effort to hold in his own bawling. 

They stand wrapped in each other for a while, neither willing to let go even when their tears dry up and their breathing evens out. Eventually Merlin rasps out a whispered:

“I don’t want to lose you.”

Arthur pulls back at long last, but doesn’t go far, leaning his forehead against Merlin’s and closing his eyes before replying:

“You won’t. We’ll take turns hosting Yule celebrations, and I can visit on your birthday, and there’ll be tournaments of course, and trade routes, and shared patrols near the border. I refuse to let you slip from my grasp, Merlin, you’ll never be without me, not for long anyway.”

Merlin huffs out a gentle laugh, and Arthur thinks the flutter of his breath over his cheeks and through his eyelashes is the most beautiful thing he’s ever felt. Both of them open their eyes, but they don’t move away from each other, even as they stare, becoming increasingly aware of the very little amount of space between them. Arthur’s brows crease slightly but he ignores the concerned question in Merlin’s eyes, instead lifting a hand to gently cup his jaw, gulping as Merlin’s expression falls into a soft smile.

The King takes a deep breath as he summons his courage, eyes filling with tears again as he clears his throat, whispering so quietly that it’s a miracle Merlin hears him, even with only inches between them:

“Merlin, I... you mean a great deal to... I mean I... -”

He cuts himself off with a quiet huff, and Merlin smirks at the slight blush dusting his cheeks, patiently waiting for him to continue. Arthur shuts his eyes tightly, taking another deep breath before opening them with a newfound determination. He meant it, he’d come this far, he was not going to let Merlin slip away:

“I love you, you are the single most important person in my life, and I would go to the ends of this world just to see you smile. I owe you my life, and so much more than that; you’ve been making promises and swearing oaths to my crown for years-”

Merlin interrupts him quietly:

“To you, to Arthur, not the crown, to you.”

Arthur huffs slightly and rolls his eyes:

“I’m trying to confess my undying love here Merlin, and I’m not very good with this whole... expressing shit, so shut up and let me finish.-”

Merlin snorts but stays otherwise silent, raising an eyebrow to prompt Arthur to continue:

“-Like I was saying. You’ve been swearing things for years, and now it’s my turn.-”

Arthur steps back, taking Merlin’s hands tightly in his own as he lowers himself to one knee, pressing his forehead to the Warlock’s knuckles:

“-I swear on my crown and in the name of Camelot, that I will always love you, that I will always be ready catch you, and that I will never stop putting the work in to make sure I don’t lose you, that you don’t lose me.”

The blonde can hear Merlin’s stuttered breathe and barely has time to process Merlin’s whispered-

“I accept your oath.”

-before he’s being pulled to his feet and urgently kissed.

One of Merlin’s hands settles on the side of Arthur’s neck and the other grips his hip. Arthur’s arms flail for only a moment in his shock before he moves to clutch Merlin’s collar tightly, closing his eyes and kissing back, pushing as much of his devotion into the action as possible and wanting nothing more than to sooth the stress-induced bite marks on Merlin’s lips.

They pull back far too soon, as far as both of them are concerned, once again resting their foreheads against each other as they catch their breath. Arthur’s face slowly morphs into a grin as he says:

“And to think I was stressing over whether I should tell you for weeks.”

Merlin rolls his eyes in response, snorting in amusement as he admits, much to Arthur’s chagrin:

“Believe me, I already knew, you weren’t very subtle. You’ve been sulking.”

Arthur lets out an incredulous huff and pulls back, still holding Merlin’s collar but staring at Merlin’s amused raised eyebrow with wide eyes:

“I am a King, Merlin, I do not sulk.”

Merlin chuckles:

“Well so am I, and yes you do.”

Arthur narrows his eyes slightly:

“Not yet you’re not. That’s besides the point, if you knew... why didn’t you say anything?”

Merlin’ face falls slightly, and if Arthur had to guess, he’d say that Merlin looked a little guilty. The blonde furrowed his brows but pulls his Warlock close again, stroking his jaw softly with his thumb as he waits for an answer:

“I... I love you, Arthur, more than anything, but... I wanted see if you would do anything about it. I knew I would do anything for you, but I needed... I needed to know if you thought I was worth the distance, the effort. If I said something first, I never would have known... I would always be second guessing if you were about to... to break it off, because you didn’t want to put in the frankly ridiculous amount of effort it’s going to take to keep things... good.”

Arthur smiles and shakes his head disbelievingly, landing a quick kiss to the tip of Merlin’s nose and smirking at the way his face scrunches in response:

“Well, now you do know. I will do anything, everything, to keep you happy and safe and loved. You will always be in my heart, if not by my side.”

Merlin smiles, and the two of them resolutely ignore the tears gathering in their eyes as he whispers his reply:

“As will I. I’ll talk to the Druids, Kilgharrah, Thornway, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out some magical way to communicate.”

Arthur just smiles and nods, taking Merlin’s hands in his own once more:

“Ready to head to sleep? It’s late, and I know you’re tired.”

Merlin takes a deep breath, glancing to the thrones before walking towards the door, keeping Arthur’s hand securely in his:

“Yeah. Though unless we sneak past the others I doubt we’ll get to sleep for a while. Morgana’s been speaking to me in my head and teasing me for weeks and my mum keeps hinting at how politically beneficial a marriage between the kingdoms would be.”

Arthur doesn’t even try to hide his snort, but nods in agreement and squeezes Merlin’s hand, following him out into the star-lit evening with a newfound enthusiasm to see what the future will bring.

~

THE END OF PART 2!!!

I think I’ll write one more reeeaally short part, a ten years later sort of thing, just because I have a few more ideas about this, but no real huge plot points, just cute little things I want to add in but haven’t found space for yet.

This took a little longer than I expected to come out, but I hope y’all enjoyed it!!

(and yes, I may have taken a little inspiration from The Hobbit movies, sue me (pls don’t, I’m kidding))

[ez-bennett]

Got these last night. Nearlylast/twitch Nearlylast/youtube

[thefirstknife]

We obviously don't have any real answers, but for idle speculation: what do you think Crow is on Venus for? I've seen people suggest Vex or Ahamkara reality-warping, but Crow doesn't seem depressed or angry enough for that.

Honestly my biggest question right now. I'll be a little unhinged in this post so bear with me.

Option 1, he wants to be isolated and it's been established that there are no authorised Vanguard operations on Venus so it's the most likely barren but available celestial body in the system. Going beyond the Reef is dangerous and the only thing left in the inner system that isn't yoinked by Darkness or occupied is Venus.

I think this is the most benign and basic explanation that makes the most sense for now until we know more. The rest under the cut:

Option 2, speaking of that same lore I linked, two other people went to Venus for an unknown reason: an unnamed Hunter (with an Eliksni friend) and Shayura. The Hunter was guided by the Eliksni to a part of Venus that didn't belong to the Ishtar Academy:

Hurrying up a shallow set of rubble-strewn steps, a short Eliksni bearing the crest of the House of Light pauses, gazing back at the chrome-armored Guardian moving up the steps behind him. The Eliksni looks the Guardian up and down, then motions to the stark silhouette of a gray concrete-block building rising up from the Venusian overgrowth.

"This ain't the academy proper," the Guardian says on ascent, watching the hazy sky for signs of danger. Moisture clings in glistening beads to his reflective mask; his dark hood shields him from the rest of the elements. "The hell was this place?"

The Eliksni tilts his head to the side, four eyes blinking independently from one another. "Not Human, don't know. But machine inside."

I'd assume that the Eliksni would know if it was a Vex structure, but he only specifies that it isn't human. He mentions "machine inside" which can refer to the Vex taking over, but the structure doesn't seem to be of Vex origin or the Eliksni and the Hunter would be able to recognise that. It's not exactly hard to notice their work.

Shayura came to Venus to find someone. We don't know who. It might be the Hunter in the lore (whom she killed), but it's never specified. The only thing specified is what her Ghost says:

"There are no sanctioned Vanguard operations on Venus at present," the Ghost clarifies, pivoting its cold blue eye up to its Guardian. "Why do you think he's down there?"

There's an implication that whoever she's looking for is known to work or has worked with the Vanguard.

I wonder if Shayura's Wrath lore is chronologically in order or not. Because if not, Crow would fit the description of who she's looking for. Worked with the Vanguard, went to Venus, is easily on Shayura's list of people to kill given his past.

But why would Crow be there in the first place? Maybe it has something to do with the structure described in Shayura's Wrath lore. Crow didn't fully leave the Vanguard, he just got reassigned to work with Lord Saladin in negotiating with Caiatl. Caiatl is hard at work fighting Xivu Arath's forces and the Hive in general. She even implied being willing to nuke the hell out of the Reef to kill Savathun, civilian casualties be damned. Thanks to Zavala, this plan was nipped in the bud.

So my question then would be what is Crow doing on Venus as a part of that assignment? What is on Venus, damn it? Oh, dunno, maybe... Hm.

:) ?

Remember, Venus became a jungle world after the Traveler terraformed it. Now, the problem with the Venus look is that the screenshots are only from D1 and those are old. But the jungle, overgrown look with a lot of foliage is there:

A better look might be from concept art:

The question here is: is Savathun's throne world located somewhere in the physical world or is the jungle around it just a part of the throne world itself and the actual location is elsewhere? I lean to the former and if she wanted to hide her throne world entrance somewhere, where better than on an abandoned world of Venus.

Furthermore, Bungie already reworked Venus for Destiny 2, due to Vault of Glass. The textures are there, the loading screen is there, orbit look and music, everything is already transferred to D2. Would be a shame to only have it exist as entry to Vault of Glass. Now, I don't think this necessarily means that the entirety of Venus will be back, but some other smaller part of it, perhaps. There's been a lot of Venus mentions lately, starting from it literally being back as a part of the raid.

For more unhinged hints: Venus is highly sulfuric, something which is mentioned in most lore about Venus, including this week's mention of Crow being there. Witch Queen Warlock armour features many references to sulfur:

"S" is the symbol for sulfur, 16 is its number in the periodic table and 32.066 is its atomic weight.

Venus is also symbolical for Savathun. Venus is the only planet named after a Goddess and all of its features are named after Goddesses, of which three appear in Destiny: Ishtar Sink, Maat Mons and Pomona Mons. Quite ironically, Maat is an Egyptian Goddess of truth and justice, while Pomona is a Roman Goddess of gardens. Ishtar (Inanna) is more or less the same as Venus mythologically, and both have very close ties to the planet itself as was observed by the ancient people, which is why the planet was named after them.

Best for last: ancient Greeks considered Venus to be two separate celestial objects because of how Venus sometimes appears early in the morning (morning star) and sometimes early in the evening (evening star). They eventually realised that it's the same object, but they continued using two words to describe it: Phosphoros and Hesperos. Its generally mostly used name was Phosphoros which means... Light-bearer. It's also where the name for the element phosphorus came from. Both phosphorus and sulfur are very much tied to alchemy, which is a huge theme for the Witch Queen. Phosphorus also precedes sulfur on the periodic table (with number 15) and was, alongside sulfur, instrumental in the alchemical search for the Philosopher's stone.

^ This symbol from the same Warlock armour refers to the Philosopher's stone: this is a symbol of philosopher's sulfur. Another related symbol also appears on the Warlock armour that relates to sulfur:

So why is Crow on Venus? Maybe he just wants a place where he can be alone in the world to process what happened. That's fair.

And maybe it's a part of the assignment to find Savathun's throne world because at this point, we all know that to kill a Hive God, they must be killed in their throne world. If the plan is to kill Savathun, and Caiatl is very much into that plan, she is probably looking for the throne world. Crow may be the one to find it. And perhaps someone else has already found it before, if we consider Shayura's Wrath lore.

Okay, I'm done being insane for today.

[neonpigeons]

in a mix of current fixations my brain decided to mash together ofmd and destiny 2 so I had a very weird dream lol. it was mostly just destiny but with ofmd characters.

anyways I got extremely carried away talking about the dream and destiny lore under the cut so I'll spare your dashboards if you're not interested. it's a lot. sorry lol.

it's basically just ofmd but sci fi, stede and the crew were guardians and he was the leader of their group and much like in the show, he was not very good at uhh. well. a lot.

quick destiny lore summary:

basically in the destiny universe, it's way in the future. this powerful and mysterious being that looks like a moon, called the traveler, finds humanity in 2014 and grants them immense knowledge and allows them to access the Light which gives certain humans (and awoken and exo) abilities to harness the light. they're called guardians. guardians are also given a little floating robot-like companion called Ghost. he's made of the light and he allows guardians to be brought back from death (respawn lol) and scans your surroundings and can also guardians to their ship.

the traveler ushered in a golden age for humanity and for a couple centuries they flourished and traveled way out into the solar system and beyond. but the traveler has many enemies trying to track it down, guided by what's called the Darkness (yeah I know. light vs dark lol). and multiple large and destructive armies from other worlds found earth and nearly wiped out all of humanity. this event was called "the collapse" and the traveler was damaged during it. but humanity did survive with the traveler's help and the game starts with you being a revived guardian who now is trying to defend the Last City and the traveler.

one especially dangerous enemy in the game is called the Vex. they're basically big sentient robots that just destroy and take over everything. I mention them cuz they were the main focus in the dream lol.

oh also along with the 3 races you can play in destiny (human, awoken, and exo) there are 3 different classes: warlock, hunter, and titan. warlocks wield powerful light abilities and can regain shields quickly but their defense is low. hunters are quick and cunning and use a knife with their melee attacks. titans are powerhouses with high defense and strong offensive moves.

the abilities are always one of 4 subclasses: void (disruptions of space, can also make you invisible), solar (fire), arc (electricity, can also make you go fast) and stasis (ice). those are the powers you get as a character and you can freely switch between the one you want to use depending on the situation.

okay end of lore and bg info. that's a lot.

***

okay so stede and a few of his crew (Jim, Oluwande, Lucius, and Ed) were investigating a pyramid ship (massive vessels part of the Black Fleet, functioning with darkness magic... yeah it's confusing) on a different planet. they were scanning artifacts when they were ambushed by a large group of Vex and they got separated. stede ended up with jim and ed, and lucius with olu.

they all had to fight pretty hard to stay alive. lucius and olu we're closer to the entrance of the ship so they were in better shape, while stede and jim and ed were trapped further inside the ship and got pressed further and further in.

oh yeah I forgot to mention their classes. stede was a warlock, jim was a hunter, ed was a titan, lucius was a warlock, and oluwande was a hunter. this didn't matter much but if anyone was curious lol.

stede's group found another exit after fighting for a while but once they were back outside, they found themselves surrounded completely. they were about to try to fight when one of the Vex spoke to them. it said they wish to have an audience with the leader of their group and the rest may leave. (not smth typical of the game at all, I don't think the Vex can even speak, but dreams rarely make sense).

stede looked at jim and ed and started to step forward but ed grabbed his arm and was like "you can't do this, you know the Vex aren't trustworthy. they'll just kill you or use you to get to the traveler." stede said "what other choice do we have? im not letting anyone die because of me."

ed relented, not knowing what to say or do, and stede walked toward the Vex who spoke where a Vex portal opened up. he looked back one more time and then stepped through.

stede found himself in some sort of Vex stronghold in this long hallway and he walked down it to find a very large Vex robot. probably some sort of leader but it was never explained. it was very reminiscent of the ending of the matrix trilogy. sorta. anyway,

the Vex leader tells him that humanity needs to surrender or else it'll be completely wiped out. upon surrender most humans will be spared and will have to serve the Vex.

stede asks if he'll be allowed to return to earth and the Vex says yes but the darkness there was strong and his ghost wasn't going to be able to help him.

he was allowed back through the portal and was back outside the pyramid ship, completely alone. he started to walk back to where they had first landed on the planet, hoping to find his crew again and his ship.

however, some Vex started to show up and he felt uneasy. he knew he was allowed to return to earth but these started to look aggressive. he was about to pull out a weapon when one of the Vex appeared behind him out of nowhere and hit him with a large energy blast that he couldn't avoid. it struck him entirely on his right side, injuring his arm and leg severely. he collapsed, unable to move or use any weapons or abilities as the darkness was suppressing his ability to heal.

as the Vex group closed in on him, he was powerless to do anything but suddenly, appearing out of the void, jim grabbed him and then they teleported a short ways away.

stede was dazed but saw ed and was overjoyed. they had stayed close by just in case he appeared again and needed help. they tried to return to their ship with the help of their ghosts but the darkness was stopping all of them from being able to do it.

ed carried stede on his back as they made their long walk back to safety, all the while trying to avoid any Vex that were along their path. at one point they were hiding in the brush to rest and stede was rinsing off his arm in a creek when he had to jump into the water to hide from a large Vex patrol. he thought he had recovered enough to be able to swim but his leg still wasn't working. ed jumped in and saved him.

the rest of the dream was them reaching their ship and then it morphed into nonsense so that's it. if you read this whole thing I'm amazed that you actually cared! thank you, love you 💕

if for whatever reason this makes you interested in destiny 2, I will play it with you 👀 it has cross play too so it doesn't matter what console you have or if you're on a computer.

[dmsden]

A History Lesson - Looking back at D&D’s history

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Well, this is the 5th Monday in March, and that means I get to write about anything I want! It’s also my birth month, which means it’s my anniversary of getting into D&D (42 years!), and that has me feeling nostalgic. Coupled with a discussion I had recently with some friends, I thought it would be fun to look back at the various editions of D&D and give you all a bit of history. I’m not going to get into Gygax vs Arneson or any of that. I’m only talking about the published game itself, not its creators or its storied origins.

The original D&D (or OD&D as it’s sometimes called) came in a small box. It had three booklets inside - Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - along with reference sheets and dice. Each was softcover and roughly the same dimensions as a DVD/BluRay case. The game was pretty rudimentary - for one thing, it assumed you already had a copy of Chainmail, D&D’s direct wargame predecessor. It also recommended you have a game called Outdoor Survival for purposes of traveling through the wilderness. It had only three classes - fighting man, magic-user, and cleric - and nothing about playing other races. It did have the insane charts that 1st edition would ultimately known for, and it was possible to play a pretty fun game of D&D with it, as its popularity would come to show.

The game expanded through similar chapbooks - Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, Gods Demigods & Heroes, Swords & Spells. With the exception of the last one, each brought new facets to the game - new classes like Thief and Monk, new spells, new threats. It was clear the game was going to need an overhaul, and it got one.

I consider this overhaul to yield the real “1st Edition”, as so much of the game didn’t exist in those original games. The game split into a “Basic” game, just called Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The basic game was a boxed set that included a rulebook, a full adventure module, and dice...or, well, it was supposed to contain dice. The game was so popular and new in those days that demand for dice outstripped production. My copy of D&D came with a coupon for dice when they became available and a sheet of “chits” - laminated numbers meant to be put into cups (we used Dixie Cups with the name of the die written on it), shaken, and a random number pulled out without looking. It was meant to introduce new players to the game, so it was a trimmed down version. Races were human, elf, dwarf, and halfling, and classes were fighter, cleric, magic-user, and thief. The box only included rules for going up to 3rd level, with the intention that players would then graduate into AD&D. This is where I joined, with the old blue cover box set and In Search of the Unknown, before Keep on the Borderlands even existed.

AD&D was the game in its full glory. Along with the races I mention above, we got half-elves, half-orcs, and gnomes. The four basic classes also had sub-classes, like paladin and ranger for the fighter, druid for the cleric, illusionist for the wizard, and assassin for the thief. There were rules for multi-classing, as well as “Dual-classing”, a sort of multi-class variation for humans only, which, when done in the correct combination, could yield the infamous bard...which didn’t actually yield any bard abilities until around level 13 or so.

This edition had 5 different saving throws for things like “Death Magic”, “Petrification & Polymorph”, “Spells”, and so on. It had the infamous Armor Class system that started at 10 and went down, so that having a -3 AC was very good!  It also had specific attack matricies for each class; you would literally look on a table to determine the number you needed to roll on a D20 based on your class, your level, and your opponent’s armor class. It was fun, but it was very complicated.

It also had some, frankly, shitty rules. There was gender disparity in terms of attributes, which my group totally ignored. Because the game designers wanted humans to be a competitive the game, and because non-humans had so many abilities and could multiclass, non-humans were severely limited in the levels they could achieve in most classes. In fact, some classes, such as monk and paladin, were restricted only to humans.

As the years went on, things got a bit muddled. It probably didn’t help that the rules in Basic D&D and AD&D didn’t perfectly line up. In D&D, the worst armor class was a 9. In AD&D, the worst armor class was a 10. All of this led to an overhaul, but not one considered a separate edition. AD&D mostly got new covers and new books, like the Wilderness Survival Guide and Dungeon Survival Guide, Monster Manual 2, and the Manual of the Planes. It got a number of new settings, too. In addition to the default Greyhawk setting, we got the Forgotten Realms setting for the first time, details of which had been appearing in Dragon Magazine for years, thanks to the prolific Ed Greenwood. We also, eventually, got the whole Dragonlance saga, which yielded the setting of Krynn.

In this new version, Basic D&D broke off into its own game system to some degree. Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling started being treated like classes rather than races, with specific abilities at different levels. Higher level characters could be created using progressive boxes - Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal, each with its own boxed set and supported by Mystara, a completely different setting that got its own updates over the years. It was odd, because D&D essentially was competing for players with AD&D, and I remember arguments with friends over which version was better (I was firmly in the AD&D camp.)

In 1989, when I was in college, they finally brought forth 2nd edition D&D. This streamlined things a little. Armor Class still went down, but now attack rolls boiled into a single number called To Hit Armor Class 0, or THAC0. It made the whole process of figuring out what you needed to roll a bit less cumbersome, but it was still a bit awkward. The classes got a lot of overhaul, including making Bard its own core class. But what I remember best about 2nd edition was the boom in settings. This was the age of settings, and many beloved ones got started, including Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Spelljammer.

It was also the age of the “Complete Handbooks”. They brought out splatbooks about every class and race in the game, as well as books expanding several concepts for the DM, such as the Arms & Equipment Guide, the Castle Guide, and the Complete Book of Villains. There were also splatbooks about running D&D in historic periods, such as Ancient Rome, among the ancient Celts, or during the time of the Musketeers. The game got new covers for the rule books again, and a bunch of books about options started coming out. It was a boom time for books, but many people complained there was too much.

Without going too deep, TSR ended up in severe financial troubles. They declared bankruptcy, and there was real fear of the game going away. And then Wizards of the Coast (WotC) stepped in. They helped TSR get back onto its feet, and they helped produce some modules specifically engineered to help DM’s bring an end to their campaign...possibly even their whole campaign world...because something big was coming.

That something big was, of course, 3rd edition D&D. The game got majorly streamlined, and many sacred cows ended up as hamburger. AC finally started going up instead of down. Everything was refined to the “D20″ system we’ve been playing ever since. Races could be any class. There were no level or stat limits for anyone. After years of the game being forced into tight little boxes, it really felt like we could breathe. I had stopped playing D&D, but 3rd edition brought me back into the fold. I often say that 3E was made for the players who’d felt constricted and wanted more flexibility.

The trouble with 3E, and its successor 3.5, is that it was still a dense and difficult game for newcomers to get into. It’s been acknowledged that D&D essentially created many of the systems we see and know in other games - experience points, leveling up, hit points, etc. But trying to break into the experience for the first time was difficult. The look of 3E was gorgeous, but I understood that it must seem awfully daunting to someone who’d never played.

4E and its follow-up, Essentials, was an attempt to course correct that. They tried to make this edition incredibly friendly to new DMs, and, frankly, they succeeded. By creating player classes and monsters and magic-items that were all very plug and play, they did a great job of creating a game that someone who had never DMed before could dive into with no experience or mentor and start a game pretty easily. Encounter design was given a lot of ease, and there were promises of a robust online tool system that would help out with many of the more tedious aspects of playing.

There was also a lot of shake up in terms of choices. Suddenly, new classes and races were proliferating like crazy. We got the dragonborn, the tiefling, and the eladrin right in the core book, but we said good-bye to the gnome and half-orc at first. Suddenly the warlock was the new class everyone wanted to try. We got paragon paths and epic destinies that would really shape a character as time went on. The game went very tactical, as well, which some of us loved. The concept of rituals came into the game. Later books like the Player’s Handbook 2 and 3 gave us back gnomes and half-orcs, and also gave us minotaurs, wilden, shardminds, and githzerai. We got new psionic classes, brand new class concepts like the Runeknight and the Seeker...

But there was a tremendous backlash. People felt that, in making the game so very plug and play, they’d taken a ton of choice away from the players. Without the tools (which were never that robust, frankly), it was almost impossible to navigate the massive panoply of options. And, worse, it was harder and harder to develop encounters without those tools. People complained that the game had gone more tactical in order to sell miniatures and battlemats. Given that I have never played the game without miniatures and battlemats (since I started in the days when D&D was still half-wargame), I found this odd, but I also understand my style of play isn’t everyone’s.

The one argument I will never understand is that it didn’t “feel” like D&D, or it was somehow ONLY a tactical game and not a role-playing game any more. Again, given that the original game didn’t even call itself a role-playing game, this felt odd. Personally, I roleplay no matter what game I’m playing. If I’m playing Monopoly, I’m roleplaying, doing voices, and pretending to be something I’m not. I honestly enjoyed 4E, and I know a lot of folks who did, too. A lot of it may simply come down to style of play. But I also enjoyed all the games that came before, including Pathfinder. To paraphrase the YouTube content creator The Dungeon Bastard, “Does your game have dungeons? Does it have dragons? Great. I wanna play.”

As a sidenote, in the months leading up to 4E’s release, a lot of internet videos were released by WotC emphasizing the nature of change and talking about differences in the rules. They also released some preview books showing the direction they were heading. WotC must have anticipated that people were going to find this edition very different indeed. They also cleverly brought in some very funny folks - Scott Kurtz from PVPOnline and Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade - and got them to play D&D for podcasting purposes. Looking back, this must’ve brought in a lot of listeners who might never have played D&D and given them a reason to try it out.

After its release, WotC clearly noted that missteps had been made, as this edition of the game was losing them players. They began work on what they referred to as D&D Next, and, this time, they did massive amounts of playtesting, some of which I participated in.

I don’t feel like I have to describe 5E to any of you, Dear Readers, as you could go to virtually any store and pick it up. I am a big fan of 5E’s simplicity and elegance, and I suspect this is the edition of D&D we’re going to have for some time to come, especially given its popularity. Given the effect of podcasts like Critical Role (and I might save an article on Critical Role’s importance to D&D until my next Freestyle article), D&D is likely more popular now than it’s ever been, with a much wider and more diverse audience than ever before.

I know I’m painting with broad strokes here, but I hope this was, at least, entertaining, and maybe you learned something, Gentle Readers. Until we next meet, may all your 20s be natural.