#edited 9/18: Spelling corrections

[r0bita]

Princess Knight headcanons, speculations, and observations, because I have nothing else to do right now. This post got longer than intended.

Much... much longer...

Kingdoms and regions.

Even though both Goldland and Silverland are fictional, they may possibly be the fantasy counterparts to real European medieval/renaissance era kingdoms. Both England and Italy are mentioned in the manga as seperate locations, so it's safe to say that neither Goldland nor Silverland are situated in either of those countries.

A lot of French influences are found in Takarazuka revue and Takarazuka also inspired Princess Knight, among many other stories and characters written by Osamu Tezuka. By that logic, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that the main character's homeland, Silverland, is probably based on France. Aditionally, the French pronunciation of Sapphire is Saphir, a masculine word/name in the language. The word "sapphire" in general is a masculine word in romance languages. With that context in mind, it makes Sapphire's gender/naming less suspicious both in reality and in-universe.

Goldland is possibly based on Germany or even the Holy Roman Empire. Additionally, Franz and Heinrich are both german names. Franz, is the German version for "Francis", meaning freeman, frank, or Frenchman (interesting...). Heinrich is the German version of Henry, meaning home ruler or enclosed ruler (very interesting...).

Despite being from an another kingdom (exiled from birth?), Capt. Blood was raised most of his life in Italy (I keep thinking Sicily. If Goldland is the HRE then maybe??? Italian states, the papacy, and the HRE were not always on good terms throughout history. I shouldn’t over think this part too much...). Not surprisingly, he would be fluent in regional Italian, as well as multiple languages and dialects due to his upbringing by nobility and as a sea voyager. Italian varients of Heinrich/Henry would be Arrigo, Enrico, or Enzo, so those could probably be the names he grew up with. As a pirate starting off from the Italian coast, would he call himself Capitano Sangue or Sanguigno?

Hecate's family lives in Mt. Resin (no real mountain by that name seems to exist, as far as a quick internet search can show). It's possibly located within or near the alps, making the location close enough to both kingdoms possible real word locations. I also get a Spanish/Iberian vibe from Hecate and Mephisto and Madame Hell, like characters from a Francisco Goya painting.

I'm surprised there isn't a Bronzeland (unless it was mentioned in the old Ribbon Knight/Princess Knight anime and I completely missed that?)

However, I definitely remember the anime bringing up three sacred treasures in the form of Gold, Silver, and Bronze orbs/bells by the finale. Maybe there were hints to a third kingdom that never got fully addressed?

Characters Observations and Headcanons

Plastic's retains some of Sapphire's experiences on account of the heart switch situation. Maybe even some emotional responses... *cough* and her romantic interests *cough. Even though he proves to be very competent and more mature than he seems, he often worries that he still doesn't have a lot to show for in spite of EVERYBODY agreeing he's a very dependable and trustworthy person.

I'm pretty sure Hecate is the type to break the fourth wall if she wanted. She'd be the type to reference famous actors and popular movies in public. She could totally predict the future, and only choose to use that power for silly reasons.

Incidentally, both Plastic and Hecate are both on the same boat when it comes to their parents and circumstances. Both Plastic and Hecate's parents insist that what they do is for their children, even when their methods are clearly wrong and both Plastic and Hectare are insistent that not only are their parents actions unnecessary, but that it's more for their selfish wants than for their children's needs. Also the coincidence that they were both born/created without "hearts" is an interesting topic.

Franz and Sapphire are both characters that, because to their upbringing, have trouble figuring themselves out and fully trusting others. They are confident in their abilities, but not so much in believing they are worthy of them because of the high standards they must uphold. Thankfully, they are both sword maniacs and absolute dorks around each other, and in general. They'll be fine.

Sapphire functions by giving herself comands. "If I must be a boy, I will be a boy." "If I must be a girl, I will be a girl" "If I must be strong, I will be strong", etc. This is pretty effective up until something disrupts Sapphire's concentration or is simply to overwhelming for her to handle alone. Once something doesn't go as planned, she needs to regain her composure and that often means switching off from whatever she's focused on. This can be frustrating for her, because switching off leads to her getting distracted and it makes her feel vulnerable. This leads to Sapphire often being very defensive and nervous when allowing others, especially strangers, close to her and allowing them to help her.

Franz heavily values honesty, openess, and reassurance, which is both a blessing and a curse for him. He's too dependent on taking other people's words to heart and does not handle mockery and dishonesty very well. This may also be why he is incredibly curious (to the point of being obsessed and nosy at times) and isn't shy about admitting when he doesn't know everything. However, he also has a tendency to be self-deprecating at times which comes in conflict with his need to look competent. He won't allow people to call him a fool, but that doesn't stop it from calling himself a fool often.

I am frankly under the belief that Franz is nearsighted, has a habit of staring off, and prone to laughing fits when he gets surprised, nervous, and even upset at times, much to his uncle's frustration and constant training in etiquette (that last one may very well be true based on his responses to sudden information in the manga).

I'd also like to believe that before deciding to become a pirate, Blood was probably set to possibly become a surgeon, or more likely a physician, either arranged by his adoptive parents or possibly by himself. This is just a personal hc I have due to Capt. Blood's original novel and movie counterpart, Dr. Peter Blood, who started out as a surgeon before he took to piracy.

Madame Hell and Satan. Worst couple.

Madame Hell and Mephisto. Power couple.

Satan could care less about his kids. Mephisto would spoil them and spoil them more. Hell is the actually the more responsible one when it comes to keeping an eye on Hecate, even if she can barely keep up with her daughter.

Oolong and Friebe, coolest sibling duo. It's not a headcanon, it's a fact. (Franz and Blood wishes... No, seriously. Franz does wish they were that in-sync, but life isn't fair and neither is his uncle...)

Speaking of Franz's uncle, Duke Chanell. It's not outright stated, but it is implied that he is his maternal uncle, stating that he raised him after his mother died. If Blood is the illegitimate child of the previous king of Goldland, this may add more to why he has a strong dislike towards Heinrich, who was probably a baby when he sent him away. Franz's uncle is depicted as harsh and greedy. But from a bigger picture, it does make sense why he would go towards extreme lengths for his nephew, possibly the only child left by his sibling, the queen. Even though he is the one ruling the country at the moment, he clearly prefers that Franz to be the one to succeed him then giving it to the elder brother, and is deeply upset about Franz pursuing The Flax-haired girl ,Sapphire, and getting forcibly engaged to Hecate.

[villadiodatis]

Give it up for the Bad Kids at level 14!

After acing the Last Stand and their junior year, the Bad Kids have gotten a well-deserved level up to 14! Let's see what's in store for them. (As always, my previous recaps for levels 11, 12, and 13 can be found at these links!)

Adaine: Wizard 14. Adaine learns two new 1st-7th level spells (in addition to whatever she's learned from her downtime rolls, which as of this episode is MANY new spells). She also gets her final subclass feature, Greater Portent, which lets her roll 3 portents every long rest (improved from 2). She can also now prepare 19 spells a day (previously 18).

Fabian: Fighter 6/Bard 8 (was Fighter 6/Bard 7). Fabian gets a second 4th-level spell slot and learns a new 1st-4th level spell. In addition, he's increased his charisma by 2, taking it to 20--he is now the most dexterous and most charismatic you can be without magical help! Maximum Legend indeed. With this increase, his modifier goes up to +5, and his spell save DC, attack bonus, and all CHA-based skills (Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion) go up by one. He can also now use Bardic Inspiration 5 times per short rest, improved from 4.

Fig: Bard 10/Paladin 3/Warlock 1 (was Bard 10/Paladin 2/Warlock 1). Fig has reached her paladin Sacred Oath subclass! We don't know which it is yet (although many people have speculated Devotion), but it will include access to two new spells specific to her oath and two Channel Divinity options, which she can use once per short or long rest. I believe her spell slots remain the same due to multiclass shenanigans, but please correct me if I got that wrong. She also gets Divine Health, which makes her immune to disease.

Gorgug: Barbarian 5/Artificer 9 (was Barbarian 6/Artificer 7). Gorgug continues to swap around barbarian and artificer levels! With this change, he loses Mindless Rage (so he can now be charmed or frightened while raging) and gains an unknown feat, access to 3rd level spells and two 3rd-level spell slots, and an unknown Barbificer subclass feature. (EDIT: I had forgotten he's not a Battle Smith anymore; thanks to @lookin-reproachfully for reminding me!)

Kristen: Cleric 14. Her Destroy Undead ability can now destroy undead creatures of CR3 or lower on a failed save, which includes ghasts, ghouls, poltergeists, and skeletons, although there are a lot of undead Brennan could throw at them. She can also now prepare 19 spells a day (previously 18).

Riz: Rogue 14. We saw Riz put his new feature, Blindsense, to great use this episode! He is now aware of any hidden or invisible creatures within 10 feet of him, as long as he can hear. (Hopefully he can use that against Kipperlilly too…) He also learns one new 1st-3rd level spell, which can be a Wizard spell from any school.

And across the board, everyone's HP goes up and they get another hit die!

One little bonus--this episode, we discovered Kipperlilly is a Mastermind Rogue. An ability of hers that might come in handy is Master of Intrigue--if she has observed a creature for 1 minute, she can "unerringly mimic" their speech patterns and accent. I'll let you all speculate on what she might do with that, and I'll see you all if/when we hit level 15.

[staybabblingbaby]

W.I.P Glossary and Master List

Ok, so, I'm gonna start posting w.i.ps here shortly, but like. As writing process archives? I just think it'll be fun. I'm posting this in advance bc my organization system is a bit weird. SKZ fics will be here at @staybabblingbaby and BTS fics will be at @babyarmybabbles. I may make another side blog for other fandoms I write for, but we'll see. All fics are xReader unless otherwise indicated. Stuff and Things under the cut :D

Bear w me bc I don't usually do text posts and have no practice with formatting yet lol

Glossary:

Attempt - A draft with major changes. Wording changes of a paragraph or more (not including completely new material), changes in POV, setting changes, characterization changes, etc, are included in this. Abbreviated as a(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Draft - A manuscript that has been edited. Even minor edits like grammar and spelling corrections are a new draft. These are labeled, but only saved as new files in intervals of 5. Abbreviated as d(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Addition - A manuscript that has been added to enough to warrant a new post.

My intent is to upload all new Attempts, Drafts in intervals of 5, and Additions in intervals of 1,000 words or more. My hope is something of a progress log? I think it'll be fun, help me keep track of what I've done, and help motivate me.

Master List:

Coordi AU: Current Total Word Count - 5,469

Intro Part a1 d3 - 1,178 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Han Part a1 d4 - 2,190 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan Part a1 d4 - 640 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Lee Know Part a1 d4 - 639 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Hyunjin Part a1 d4 - 854 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Felix Tinder AU: Current Total Word Count - 3,123

Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a1 d1 - 1,543 Words, Posted 7/22/24 Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a2 d3 - 1,580 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Fan Day AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,399

Fan Experience with SKZ a2 d2 - 1,399 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Janitor AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,293

Janitor AU (Ambush Part) a1 d2 - 1,293 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Bangchan/Youtuber AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,258

Chan/Youtuber (idea drabble) a1 d1 - 296 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan/Youtuber (Discover Part) a1 d1 - 962 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Childhood Friend SMAU (Best Friend Protocol): Current Total Word Count - N/A

Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Intro Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/15/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plead Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/16/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU(Bridge Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/18/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Meet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/22/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plan Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/26/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Worm Part) -N/A Words, Posted 7/29/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (STAY Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (SLEEP Part) -N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Bet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/31/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Angst Part) - N/A Words, Posted 9/8/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Filler Part) - N/A Words, Posted 10/04/24 Best Friend protocol SAMU (Blackmail Part) - N/A Words, Posted 11/03/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Crush Part) - N/A Words, Posted 11/10/24

Soulmate Garden AU: Current Total Word Count - 13,954

Soulmate Garden AU (Idea Drabble)a1 d2 - 209 Words, Posted 8/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU (Prologue) a2 d4 - 1,308 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.1 (Dahlia) a2 d5 - 5,368 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2(Anemone)a3 d2- 4,218 Words, Posted 9/21/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.3 (Daffodil)a2d2 -3,060 Words, Posted 10/04/24

Extras/Old Versions: SGAU Ch.1 (Dahlia) Editing Sacrifices - 928 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.2 (Anemone) Editing Sacrifices - 127 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2 (Anemone)a2d1 -4,075 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.3 (Daffodil) Editing Sacrifices - 254 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a1d1 - 237 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d2 - 1,558 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d3 - 2,866 Words, Posted 10/25/24

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 122]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54

Not going to do much this morning because I only have an hour or so. I may do more later today however.

Chapter 55 (Logan)

Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce more and more quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intention,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the cardamom.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it’s a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said. The ‘but I can’ was implied.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the main kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already vanished before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in violent flames. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand, at that very moment, decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to look at them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

Chapter 56 (Thomas)

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs.

So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had actually tried to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a Princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior at this point. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy on the ground, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently scoot all of the cats out of his lap. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The Cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to it, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way.

Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

He still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to The Cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

Everyone else seemed to have finished eating long before Virgil, though Patton still had a small plate of grapes, and he occasionally popped one in his mouth. King Thomas was currently setting up the board game they’d brought on the blanket between all of them.

Virgil shrugged in answer to his question. “It’s good,” he said, “and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

“You know we can just take the leftovers back to the castle and eat them later,” King Thomas said. “You don’t have to eat it all now.”

Virgil just shrugged again, watching as the king set out a group of 8 figures on the board.

“Here, which character do you want to be?” the king asked Virgil, gesturing at the group of figures. Virgil had not noticed the figures were different at first glance. They were all copper colored and about the size of his thumb, but they had slightly different shapes. He squinted at them each carefully, finding they all looked like people, but with different clothing. Some worse pants and some skirts, a few had hats, and one was even carrying a book.

After a few moments, he pointed at one that looked like it had vines wrapped around its arms and was wearing a floppy hat that almost covered its eyes.

“That’s the druid,” King Thomas told him with a grin. “Good choice, and luckily not one that anyone usually fights over.” He glanced at Logan who didn’t react to his father’s gaze. He just plucked the figure clutching the book off the board for himself.

Patton and the king picked pieces for themselves. Patton picked one with an apron that kind of reminded Virgil of his mom and the king picked one that was in a suit of armor before putting the other 4 figures away.

Unlike checkers, this game wasn’t just for two people, and so no one had to sit watching people play while bored out of their mind.

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They played a practice round so Virgil could figure out how the game worked, though honestly it wasn’t that complicated, so it wasn’t really necessary.

The theme of the game was all about stealing. They were supposed to steal special tokens from other players as well as characters in the game and the first person with 20 tokens won.

The other three players argued that stealing was not the point and not the main mechanism of the game, but considering Virgil was consistently winning the entire time, he would argue they were just playing it wrong. He managed to collect 20 tokens before anyone else. In second place at this time was Logan with 9 tokens.

Logan insisted on continuing to play the game to determine 2nd and 3rd place, so Virgil ended up watching them play for a bit. Virgil didn’t mind sitting and watching other people play this game, mostly because he still had the joy of victory running in his veins.

Thomas was definitely going to lose, he noted. He kept wasting his money feeding the nonplayer characters who lived on his lands. Virgil didn’t mention this faulty strategy to him in case Virgil ever played him again.

When Logan took too long thinking about his next move, Virgil took in their surroundings.

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He’d been a bit too distracted by the prospect of food and then trying to understand (and then win) the game to truly take in The Cliffs. They were settled a good distance away from the cliffside but Virgil could still see how quickly the edge dropped off. He couldn’t see the large river he was told was at its base from where he was sitting, but he did see a few of the promised wild birds (including doves) flying around. The king had promised they’d bird watch for a bit, and Virgil figured that would happen after the game was over.

A cool spring breeze brushed across Virgil’s face, and he put his hand in his hoodie pockets to warm them. Instead, his fingers hit something icy cold.

For a moment, he didn’t remember what it was. The crescent shape of it was familiar when he put his hand over it, but he had never felt it cold before.

It was the protection charm: the first charm Virgil had ever made with Logan so many months ago. It was meant to ward off small threats as well as warn you about larger threats by changing temperature…

It had always been warm.

“What?” Patton asked, having noticed Virgil suddenly tense. Virgil, despite how he drilled into his friend’s heads to stay alert had gone soft. He’d let himself be distracted by a full belly and warm blankets and fun games.

He didn’t answer Patton. He filtered the other boy’s worried face out as well as Logan’s face as he glanced at him and the king’s still focused on the game for now. He filtered out the picnic blanket and smell of food still lingering in the air and the vine covered figure set in the middle of the board on the winner’s space. He filtered out the sound of the breeze and the breath of his companions and the distant chirping of birds.

And he heard a whoosh.

[justicegundam82]

2E to 1E Conversion: Sahkil, Chakanaj

This creature comes from the adventure module titled "Night of the Grey Death", which mostly deals with the threat of the Grey Gardeners in Galt. Again, I tried to portray them as appropriate for their CR, and I mostly tried to use equivalent abilities to convert certain abilities that the Chakanaj have in 2E. However, I still think I'm a bit iffy on the spell-like abilities. Please feel free to criticize and offer alternatives, if you think there is room for improvement.

EDIT: Corrected the saving throw DCs for fear and horrific doubles, and corrected feats. Thanks to @thecreaturecodex for pointing out errata and giving suggestions.

SAHKIL, CHAKANAJ

Image (c) Paizo, from "Night of the Grey Death", artist unknown.

This creature is a repulsive chunk of quivering flesh imitating the form of some small article of clothing. It is featureless except for an excessive number of scuttling insectile legs in the lower part of its body.   

CHAKANAJ                       CR 14

XP 38’400

NE Tiny Outsider (evil, extraplanar, sahkil)

Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 29, touch 22, flat-footed 19 (+9 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural, +2 size)

hp 200 (16d10 + 112)

Fort +12, Ref +19, Will +16

Damage Reduction 10/good; Immune death effects, disease, fear, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, sonic 10

Spell Resistance 25

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)

Melee 2 leg slashes +27 (1d3+9 / x3 plus unholy strike)

Special Attacks augmented critical, look of fear (30 ft., DC 25), sneak attack +4d6, unholy strike

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th, concentration +23)

     Constant – true seeing

     At will – dancing lights, detect thoughts (DC 18), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only) magic circle against good, major image, speak with dead, suggestion (DC 19)

     3 / day – blink, fear (DC 22), greater invisibility, wall of ectoplasm

     1 / day – deeper darkness, horrific doubles (DC 22), summon (level 6, 1 chakanaj, 35%), veil

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 29, Con 24, Int 14, Wis 23, Cha 23

Base Atk +16; CMB +14; CMD 33 (cannot be tripped)

Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Greater Feint, Improved Feint, Mobility, Slashing Grace (B), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (leg slash)

Skills Acrobatics +26, Bluff +25, Disguise +24 (+32 when bonded), Fly +32, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (planes) +16, Knowledge (religion) +20, Perception +24, Sense Motive +24, Stealth +30; Racial Modifiers +8 Disguise when bonded

Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Necril; telepathy 100 ft.

Special Qualities bond with host, ear for secrets, easy to call, emotional focus, skip between, spirit touch

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Ethereal Plane)

Organization solitary, pair or plot (3-5)

Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Augmented Critical (Ex): A chakanaj’s legs are incredibly sharp and easily penetrate a victim’s vital organs. A chakanaj’s leg slash attack inflicts triple damage on a confirmed critical hit.

Bond With Host (Ex): A chakanaj can physically link itself with a willing host that must be at least one size category larger than itself. Bonding with a host is a full round action that provokes an attack of opportunity, and the chakanaj must physically enter the host’s space in order to use this ability. Once a chakanaj is bonded, it covers a suitable surface on the host, such as the face or back, and alters its own appearence in order to look like some harmless piece of vestiary or equipment, usually a hood, a mask or a scarf. The chakanaj occupies the same space as its host and moves with its host. Once bonded, a chakanaj gets a +8 racial bonus to all Disguise checks to appear as an article of clothing.

While bonded with a chakanaj, the host’s senses and movement are not impaired in any way. The host gains a +2 circumstance bonus to his AC as the sahkil moves to intercept and deflect enemy attacks. The sahkil also establishes a constant shield other effect with the bonded creature. Attacks that target the chakanaj target the host instead, but use the higher AC or saving throw values between the chakanaj and the host. Area effects apply to both the chakanaj and the host, as normal for an area of effect. A bonded chakanaj cannot attack or move on its own, but moves along with the host and can use its spell-like abilities as normal.

If the host is hit by a melee attack or grappled, the chakanaj can make a single leg slash attack against the attacker. This counts as the chakanaj’s attack of opportunity for that round, and automatically reveals the chakanaj’s true nature to the attacker.

A chakanaj can detach itself from a host as a move action. If it does so, it is placed in a square adjacent to the former host and can act independently right away.   

Ear For Secrets (Ex): A chakanaj knows when a creature within 30 feet lies unless that creature succeeds on a Bluff check opposed by the chakanaj’s Sense Motive check. This ability does not allow the chakanaj to know the truth, only that a lie was told.

Look of Fear (Su): A creature affected by a chakanaj’s gaze is gripped by an irrational dread that his secrets are about to be revealed. The target becomes shaken and acts as if under the effects of a paranoia spell for 1d6 rounds.

Unholy Strike (Su): A chakanaj’s natural attacks are considered evil-aligned and inflict 2d6 points of extra damage to non-evil targets struck by them, like a magical weapon with the unholy quality.

Among the most subtle members of a fiendish race that pride themselves on their subtlety, a chakanaj’s diminutive size belies its power and cruelty. These sahkil represent the fear of secrets being revealed – an unfaithful spouse, a corrupt minister embezzling funds, a fugitive trying to conceal an heinous crime, chakanaj flock to these like flies upon honey and take advantage of their target’s shame to manipulate them. They are not interested in secrets that are merely embarassing or amusing. Only secrets that can potentially ruin lives and sow chaos are within a chakanaj’s purview.   

A chakanaj takes a slow and torturous approach to its prey. It starts out ferreting out secrets and tormenting its prospective victim by leaving hints that someone knows the truth about them. They do so knowing that most victims will act on their fear of exposure, to the point of committing more despicable actions in order to avoid being found out. This gives the chakanaj more leverage against its victim, starting a vicious cycle that more often than not leaves a victim broken and insane, if it leaves them alive at all.

While they prefer manipulation to violence, chakanaj are fast and sneaky combatants. Despite their lack of physical power, they instinctively know where to aim to bypass physical protections and strike at an opponent’s vitals. Their greatest asset, however, is their ability to link themselves to a willing creature and disguise themselves as an article of clothing or similar harmless items. This not only lets them see and hear anything their host does, but it lets them rest their sharp legs against the host’s face or skin, a subtle threat of violence to keep a host in line.

A chakanaj is usually about 2 ft. wide and weighs about 5 lbs.

[ladylaviniya]

The Bronze Dragon ★ Chapter 9★

||Chapter 7 || Masterlist || Chapter 10||

Chapter Summary: Aemond makes a compliment and comes to learn quickly not to underestimate Laviniya when she feels trapped.

Pairing: Dark!Aemond Targaryen X Laviniya Targaryen (My OFC)

Chapter Warnings: 18+ Dead Dove Do Not Eat, Post-War Dance of The Dragons, Targayren Language, Alternative Universe, Humiliation, Depictions of Physical Abuse and Violence. *No Smut This Chapter*

Word Count: 4,287k

Author Notes: ★ I do not have a beta, and I am grateful for everyone who helps me edit. I type this story on my phone using Microsoft Word App. Thankyou and please be kind. (If it's simple spelling like colour vs color, understand I am Australian and we love adding extra vowels.)

Inspiring Song: "Natural" by Imagine Dragons

“How do you say ‘husband’?” Aemond repeated, his gaze fixed on her.

Laviniya replied, “Valzȳrys.” Husband

Aemond smiled approvingly as Laviniya correctly pronounced the High Valyrian words he had taught her. He handed her an apple slice as a reward, and she happily munched on the treat.

Pleased with her progress, he posed another question, “And the word for wife?”

Laviniya repeated the word, “Ābrazȳrys,” Wife, her pronunciation clear and confident.

They found themselves inside the a room of the Ivy Inn situated along the road. The name was fitting, as the outside of the inn was completely overrun by a tangled web of green tendrils and the exterior wood had been painted a dark shade of green.

The inn room was small, but clean and cosy. A small window allowed light in, illuminating the simple furnishings that filled the room. A bed, made up with neat sheets and a blanket, dominated the room. There was also a small table with two chairs, a chest of drawers and a washbasin. The room had a warm, intimate feeling, suggesting it was a space reserved for two people who were married.

Laviniya and Aemond Targayren were still unmarried. But to travel under the guise of mystery, Aemond wore his travelling hood inside and made Laviniya shut her eyes as they entered the inn. Inside the privacy of the room however, they could be as themselves. They played cyvasse and ordered the innkeeper to bring them a roast chicken.

She had removed her gable hood and shed the first layer of her thick gown.

Aemond’s guard, Ser Raynard stood outside their door while Laviniya’s guard, Ser Gilbar took his rest in the room nextdoor, a kindness, rented out by the king for the weary knight. In fact, all the other rooms of the inn had been booked out by the king for the men who had not slept during the day, travelling the king’s captive woman.

Aemond, chewing a slice of freshly-cut apple, asked, “What is the word for apple?”

The king, seated on the edge of the bed at a higher level, looked down at her with a mixture of affection and interest, waiting for her response.

Laviniya, sitting at the small table, met his gaze with a serious expression. She thought for a moment before saying, “Avero?...” Grape, She bit her inner cheek before her purple orbs flew wide and she corrected herself, “Wait no, prūbres!” Apple

Aemond chuckled, a hint of pride in his voice, “Well done my dear Hāedar,” Cousin, he said, lazily waving his knife around before tapping its tip against his chin. Curiously, he fixed his gaze on her, “Can you say a whole sentence in Valyrian for me?”

Her lips pursed in frustration as she wracked her brain for a sentence she could say in Valyrian, something that utilized the words he had taught her in the past hour. But her knowledge of the language was limited, and she didn’t know the grammar and structure. After a moment, however, she managed to recall a phrase, albeit muttered under her breath.

“Avy jorrāelan, Lēkia,” ********* Cousin, She mumbled, the Valyrian phrase slipping out between her pursed lips. Be that it may, she did not know what horrible things it meant, what insult it was, surely she would not be scolded as in the moment she did not think of insulting his majesty.

He chuckled, a warm smile spreading across his face. “Well, isn’t that just delightful? Here I was, under the impression that I had posed quite the intellectual challenge, and yet, you effortlessly countered with a simple yet eloquent phrase.” His eyes sparkled with amusement, appreciating both her wit and her ability to meet his verbal sparring with panache. “It seems I underestimated your linguistic prowess, my dear. Well played.”

The corners of her lips curled into a small yet defiant grin, acknowledging the clever tactics of her king. She knew that this game of lessons was but a ploy to divert her thoughts from the unfortunate situation she found herself in, to create a sense of comfort amidst the looming prospect of a forced marriage. Despite his well-intentioned efforts, Laviniya found the charade to be as much a kindness as it was a cruelty, leaving her caught in a web of conflicting emotions.

The king unfolded himself from his position on the bed, abandoning his small blade and apple core. His movements were slow and deliberate as he approached the fair lady as if he feared she would spook like a silly little lamb. His fingers carefully extended towards her, reaching out to make gentle contact with her soft cheek.

 “You,” he murmured, his voice a low, intimate murmur, “Will make a fine Valyrian queen.” His touch, though tender, sent a chill through her spine.

Her smile faded from her face. Unconsciously, her brow creased, and a frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, betraying her displeasure.

The king observed the lady’s changes carefully, taking note of her expression. He let out a sigh, his voice a gentle rebuke as he spoke, “You are aware, are you not, that countless ladies would be deeply honoured to have a king desire their hand in marriage? Yet, here you stand, indifferent and ungracious towards such a potentially advantageous union.” He tenderly traced his thumb over her pouting lips as he spoke, his touch both soothing and reproachful in equal measure.

Laviniya recoiled from his touch, rising to her feet with a fierce look.

His words struck a nerve, igniting a growing heat within her. She clenched her fists, her voice shaking slightly as she retorted, “I did not ask for this. I did not want this. I never dreamed of being a queen, and I do not fathom any benefit in it. Truly, one with reasonable wisdom would avoid such a thing when gazing upon the historical fates of Targaryen queen consorts. There has been a rather common pattern throughout the years and they have all been rather unpleasant.” She took a step back, her eyes locking with his in a challenging gaze.

Though her head was still tilted slightly up to meet his eye, it was an improvement over her previous position, which had her nearly eye level with his navel. Her chin lifted, her shoulders squared, she glared up at him with a mixture of determination and defiance, refusing to be cowed by his regal presence.

Laviniya sneered, shaking her head in disgust. “You can’t seriously expect me to feel gratitude towards a man who took pleasure in massacring innocent women and children, just because their husbands and fathers refused to submit to you? Your callous disregard for human life is truly despicable.”

Laviniya pressed on, revealing her own courage alongside her accusations. “You spin these tales of your gallantry, of defending Princess Jaehaera. Yet what of the tragic fate of the little northern girls, like the daughters of Hallis Hornwood? And let us not forget the young brides of the Boltons?” She sneered, jabbing a finger at his chest with a mixture of anger and heartbreak. “Allow me to remind you once again, Your Majesty. You killed my own sister, Baella, and my own father, Daemon, in battle. And you expect me to come to you with gratitude after you stole me from the only place I considered safe and forced me into a marriage that I never asked for? Your arrogance truly knows no bounds.”

Aemond’s hand rose to her face, and for a moment, she braced herself, anticipating a blow. The courage of all her Royce ancestors steeled her, preventing her from flinching as the King of the Dragons hovered over her. Tears welled in her eyes, yet no strike came. Instead, his finger tenderly brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, the unexpected gentleness catching her off guard.

“You speak truth Lady Laviniya, but I do have to wonder which was it? The slaughter of your father or the destruction of the northern rebels that made you return the kiss inside the carriage? Which made your cunt warm and wet for me? Do you blush as prettily down there as you do on your own face?”

Her eyes blazed with fury once more, and she quickly hacked up a viscous glob of spit, preparing to hurl it at his good eye. However, his hand – the one that had been tenderly caressing her cheek and moving hair from her eyes just a moment ago – slammed viciously over her lips, effectively muffling her rebellious spitting. His other hand with a vipers strike, wrapped around her throat, grounding her with his thumb threatening to press closer.

Aemond’s voice grew dark as he chuckled lowly, “Oh no, no my lady, you’ll swallow that spittle,” he grit his teeth and seethed at the edge of a growl, “It’s quite the fitting practice for the heirs you’ll take down your throat and into your belly once we are married.”

His cock in his trousers was stirring. She was arousing a wicked curiosity in him. He imagined how she would look, on her knees before him, hungrily devouring the cock down her mouth, slurping at the salts and being covered in his white sauce. The mere thought set his pulse racing, and he was sure the reality would be even more exquisite.

She made a noise, one of alarm mixed with anger. ‘How dare he speak to me and touch me like this?’ He was strong. She stared at his arms and wrists that held her in her place.

Despite his own apparent agitation and her own defiant fury, Aemond’s actions were surprisingly restrained. In the depths of her fear, an unconscious part of her mind noticed his firm hold on her, realizing that it was nowhere near strong enough to truly harm her. Her hands rested on his wrist, not trying to pry but to make sure to prepare if he would tighten his fingers around her neck.

“Look at me, Laviniya,” he ordered, his voice leaving no room for disobedience.

Her eyes shot up, and she found herself gazing into the depths of his singular piercing blue stare. In that moment, she swallowed, her throat covered in the sliding goop.

A tense silence fell between them as he continued to stare into her eyes, his hand firmly grasping her neck, a constant reminder of his power and dominance over her in that moment. She had always felt weak in his presence, but now it was crystal clear – she was completely at his mercy, unable to move or speak without his permission. It was obvious that he meant to impress upon her the reality of her helplessness, but the realization only heightened her sense of vulnerability and fear.

Aemond’s fingers moved higher, closing around her nostrils, cutting off her precious breath all together. Her eyes widened, and an unfamiliar thrill coursed through her, a strange mix of intimacy and danger that left her conflicted. But no, she chastised herself, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel it. It was a strange and unwelcome sensation, one she refused to acknowledge. It was hot and starved. She fiercely fought against the forbidden flicker within her, drowning it out with an incessant inner mantra of – ‘No. No. Not for him. I will not feel this for him.’ She had lost so much already; she couldn’t let him have this too.

“When I release you, I expect you to apologise,” he stated, his grip on her neck and her face unwavering. His thumb pressed into her throat. Feeling the soft choke under his hands made the King smirk, his expression chilling. “Otherwise, we’ll find out just how long you can hold your breath,” he pressed his lips to her ear and added, his with a poisonous chuckle, “And I must confess, I do have high expectations.”

After what felt like nearly an eternity, her released her with a slight shove. She flung back toward the bed, sending her stumbling and crashing onto the soft mattress. Her body folded and bent over the bed as she desperately gasped for air, struggling to catch her breath. As she lay sprawled there, she could feel his gaze roaming shamelessly over her, his eyes wandering greedily over her backside. He paused, seeming to savour the sight, though he maintained a stoic facade.

As Lady Laviniya’s hazy mind slowly cleared and her sense of awareness returned, she braced herself to offer a spew of lying apologies to pacify the volatile King Aemond. But as she braced, her eyes then fell upon the apple core and blade lying innocuously beside her hand on the bed. Its silver edge was seen in the dim light.

It would be her only chance...

In the span of a single moment, her mind raced and her heart hammered in her chest. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, Her fingers flexed involuntarily, the instinct to reach for it undeniable. With a rapid motion filled with a million and one emotions, Lady Laviniya tore her hand from the bedcovers, lashing out with blazing speed. The king was forced to stumble backwards caught off guard, knocking backwards into the small table with a guttural grunt and hiss of surprise. She held the knife in front of her, her eyes wide with shock, not quite comprehending what had just happened.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Laviniya froze in disbelief, unable to move or even to think clearly. Her gaze fixated on the sight of the dark red liquid staining his sleeve, the stain growing larger and more vivid by the second. As the reality of her action sank in, her eyes travelled up to meet his face, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw the surprising smile forming on his lips.

She had just cut the Targaryen King. She had coaxed blood out from him, Aemond the conqueror.

“Oh, my sweet, darling, Laviniya,” he chuckled, his breathless voice barely masking the edge of amusement. Slowly, he raised his bleeding palm up before him, his unscathed hand encircling his wrist. With a thoughtful expression, he studied the wound for a moment before lifting his gaze to meet hers. His wide eye locked onto her watery ones as he spoke, a hint of surprise and admiration in his tone. “I must confess, I did not expect that from you.”

Aemond's smile expanded further, reaching new levels of smug satisfaction. It struck her then that it was the first authentic smile she had seen on his lips since she learned he was not a knight of House Hightower but King Aemond himself. Just then, the doorway to her left was filled with the imposing figure of Ser Raynard, his eyes a chilling shade of pale ice, framed by raven black hair.

Ser Raynard, having overheard the commotion or simply been on guard outside, stepped into the room, his eyes darting between the two as he took in the scene. Aemond’s smile remained fixed on his face, his presence calm despite the tense atmosphere and bleeding wound on his palm.

Ser Raynard’s hand closed around the handle of his sword, ready to intervene, but at Aemond’s shake of his head, he halted in his tracks. With a mere jerk of his chin, the king signaled for his guard to withdraw from the room, his eyes never leaving Laviniya’s. Though pain flickered in his gaze, it was challenged by both amusement and a silent rage. His breathing was steady as he exhaled through parted lips that formed a smile, though the strain of his injury was clear in the tightness of his jaw.

His gaze flicked down to the wound, studying the deep gash with an almost detached curiosity. Blood continued to trickle out, staining his fingers and the fabric of his sleeve, even though he clutched his wrist firmly and held it higher. Despite the pain, his breath still came in slightly laboured gasps, but his smile remained fixed on his lips. “You shall face consequences for this, Laviniya,” he stated, his voice tight with a mixture of pain and anger. “I assure you, the punishment will be quite severe.” He licked his lips and said breathily, “Avy jorrāelan, Laviniya.”

With a brief glance towards the doorway, Laviniya weighed her chances of making a hasty escape past Ser Raynard and out into the inn without being stopped. Her heart raced like a wild thing, pounding against her ribcage with a dizzying mix of fear and adrenaline. The king Aemond’s gaze was fixed on her, his smile remaining intact, but his good eye was wildly wide, his pupil had become tiny like a black pinpoints. It was the sight of a hungry beast that starved for blood. She watched as his lips twitched, his excitement was obvious now, despite the circumstances.

“Enlighten me, my dear, what you intend will come of this,” he mused. “Did you not think this through?” He laughed, “No, surely not. Because well, let us suppose you did manage to slay me – then what, pray tell?” His eyebrow raised, and he continued in a low, almost gleeful whisper, “Oh, my sweet Lavender Lamb, my men will cut you down if they don’t rape you bloody first.”

Her stomach churned, and the bitter taste of bile filled her mouth as she muttered, “I don’t want to kill you.”

Aemond regarded her intently, his expression thoughtful and measured. A tear coursed down her cheek, she shivered. A thrill of power surged through her veins, she could feel her inner flames blaze high from the pit of her belly to the top of her chest.

“Then place the knife down, now,” he commanded in a voice deceptively soft and gentle.

She shook her head, she couldn’t, she couldn’t let him win so easily. If she put the blade down, he would easily kill her. Harming the king was treason, punishable by death. She was not a total idiot not to know that much.

Just then, Ser Raynard reappeared in the room, but Aemond waved him away once more with a simple shake of his head.

“Go and find me a maester, Raynard,” he ordered. “I believe I’ll have need of his services.”

“But, sire-” The knight hesitated.

Aemond’s voice was firm as he snapped abruptly at his guard. “Now, Ser Raynard,” he barked, “Do as I command!”

Ser Raynard, understanding the severity of the situation, quickly turned and left the room.

Then, adding as an afterthought, Aemond called out, “And awaken Ser Gilbar!”

Aemond’s gaze shifted back to Laviniya, and he swung his head back, the movement causing his silvery locks to cascade away from his forehead and eye patch. He ran his tongue along the inside of his upper lip, a contemplative gesture, but his complexion had taken on a silckly pale hue, betraying his blood loss and pain.

With another low, drawn-out exhale, he said, “This little game has provided some entertainment, not as enjoyable as cyvasse, I must admit...” He paused, his eyes tracing every inch of her form from head to toe before continuing, “but it’s high time we bring it to a close.”

Laviniya’s voice was barely more than a murmur as she pleaded, her lower lip trembling slightly. Her brow furrowed tight with emotion as she shook her head. “Please,” she implored, her soft voice breaking halfway through. “Just let me return to Runestone in peace. That’s all I...all I ask.”

“Surely not home, I have told you what would occur. I will burn it all and fuck you in the beds of their ashes. So why cause unnecessary war and death? Besides, it has already been quite the adventure on this journey, hasn’t it, Laviniya?” Aemond chuckled, and his voice dripped with sarcasm, “You have even managed to leave your mark on a king... How impressive.”

Still oozing blood, he held his injured hand up, his unbroken hand clenched tightly around his wrist. Despite the severity of the gash, his expression began to strengthen, as if to show no signs of pain or discomfort. Like the cut was no longer there.

“Release me, and let me return to my home in Runestone,” Laviniya repeated her plea, her voice firmer this time as she punctuated her words by pointing the knife at him. Her throat bobbed slightly.

“Now, now, Laviniya,” Aemond patronised her with a mocking click of his tongue and belittled her as if she were a naughty child, cooing, “We both know that simply is no longer an option. Put down the knife and let’s discuss this like reasonable adults.”

A tense silence hung in the air as Laviniya remained mute, her only response a slow blink. Aemond took a step towards her, and she automatically retreated, causing him to stop in his tracks. She made a halfhearted swing with the blade, creating a sense of caution. For a moment, he paused, contemplating his next move. Then, he deliberately stepped back, his body always angled towards her, maneuvering until the table separated them.

As soon as he sidestepped, Laviniya lunged for the door, attempting to dart out of the room. With impressive quickness, Aemond shifted his position, moving just enough to block her path. He let out a low chuckle, clearly enjoying the game of cat and mouse. She retreated around the side of the table, her eyes flitting between him and the door. His gaze never wavered, fixated solely on her.

“What’s your plan, Laviniya?” he inquired, “Just how far do you think you’ll make it?” Aemond tilted his head to the side, a smirk playing on his lips. “Why not make it interesting and place a friendly wager? We do love our games, let us make this not our last, yes?”

For a moment, she cast aside the manners and propriety expected of a lady, she recalled the crude and foul language of men she had heard growing up, words never spoken by fair ladies like her. “Fuck you!” she yelled, disgust and rage seeping out from her lips as she jabbed the knife towards him once more.

The intensity in his single eye grew dark, and his voice was a low, almost menacing rumble. “I’m going to enjoy you, Laviniya. Avy jorrāelan.” Just then, a creaking sound in the hallway drew their attention. Aemond turned his head, listening intently to the disturbance.

In a desperate bid for freedom, she made a mad dash towards the door, trying to slip past him. But Aemond was too quick. He snatched her by the arm, yanking her back, stopping her escape. Laviniya reacted instinctively, lashing out with the knife. His quick reflexes caught her wrist, but before she could react, he delivered a forceful backhand blow. The impact knocked the air from her lungs, momentarily stunning her.

Without missing a beat, he grabbed her ankle, and with a violent jerk of her ankle, forcibly pulled her legs out from under her. She hit the hard ground with a thud, a gasp burned from her lungs, a scream ripped from her as she felt her wound break open beneath the bandage again.

Laviniya through her anguished sobbing threw up her free hand, and tried to land a nasty blow on him. Alas, the difference between their physical sizes was too great, and her punches were insufficient to loosen his iron grip on her.

Fuelled by desperation, she reached up and clawed at his face with her sharp nails, digging in as hard as she could to inflict as much pain and damage as possible. In the process, she managed to tear away the eyepatch and the blue sapphire gem from his eye socket, eliciting a low grunt of pain from him as his grip on her knife-wielding hand slackened.

She managed to kick free from his grip, but he quickly recovered, latching onto her ankles once more. However, his hands, slick with a fresh flow of his own blood, slipped momentarily. He grunted in pain as he lost his hold on her. Taking advantage of the momentary respite, she tried to scramble away. However, Aemond managed to hold down her ankles again, determined to keep her from escaping.

His fingers found purchase in the flimsy material of her slippers, his firm grip pulling it off with a single tug, leaving her barefooted and free. She leaped through their rooms open door. With a burst of speed, she bolted away, darting around corners and weaving through winding passages until she finally reached the inn’s main entrance door.

Breathing heavily, heartbeat racing, she charged through the open front door into the humid night.

From the window-sill of their shared room, Aemond’s voice called after her. She looked over her shoulder and saw him crazily leaning out of the window, waving to her, mocking her.

“Don’t go into the forest, Laviniya!” His snarky warning echoed through the night air, “There are wolves, bears, and lions lurking in there!”

Aemond’s booming laughter echoed through the open window behind her, but she barely registered it above the pounding of her own heart and the rush of blood in her ears. Her body racked with nausea, she stumbled to a halt, retching and then wiped her mouth on the back of her trembling wrist. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she glanced down and saw the dagger still clutched in her hand. With a grim determination, she took off in a sprint, heading toward the dense forest. Beasts be damned, as they’re were nothing fearsome to that of King Aemond.

Even when a chilling sound that cut through her senses – the distant barking of dogs and the galloping of a steed.

      HELPLINES:

If you are a victim of sexual abuse, assault or domestic violence or know someone who is please reach out to these links that share helpline services, phone numbers or emails. Consent and respect is important in every relationship whether between friends, family or even strangers.

Australian Helpline Services

UK Helpline Services

American Helpline Services

India Helpline Services.

[koushirouizumi]

Digimon Adventure 02 ~ O.C.s Fanfiction, featuring once-known as "FDD", "Fictional Digidestined & Digimon", or Fictional Chosen Children (using Japanese original terms) ~ "COF:TFF" ({Chosen} of Faith): The Fan Fic +Daisuke is visiting my 02 O.C. Hikaru, (NOT Hikari) {who Daisuke may have (mutual?!) starting crushes with} except meets a 'surprise visitor?' {"Shane!"} instead. {Exact cap of the file on my old C.D.} which has all the pages I could save before webpurges except site images + font colors won't display until I re-create the ENTIRE SITE again.

In the old story Young Me accidentally spelled Michael (American Chosen Child) wrong so it's 'corrected' here, lol. (I was also using "Willis" but since am correcting it to Japanese original canon!"Wallace".) Thus the implication here is Shane apparently 'knows' (of) Michael & Wallace But is it The Case Shane knows them WELL? Dun-dun-dun... "Meanwhile with Daisuke (+Shane)" Mini-Chatstyle Series: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 13 / 14 / 14.5 {Lightly PG-15} / 15 / 16 / 17* (A.U. Spin-off {Digimon x Pokemon Crossover!}) (A.K.A., "The Fate of Four Worlds"/TFOFWVerse) 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31* / 32 {+O.C. Hikaru}: 33 / 34 / 35 / 36 / 37 / 38 / 39 / 40* Psuedo-{+Epilogue} ({*} Marked parts are ongoing/incomplete plotlines!!) ["To Be Continued" Someday, mAYBE...] (It's mostly crack {humor} A.U. spin-offs, 02 Chosen+KouTai also show briefly in-between, Ken->Daisuke<-Hikaru as open relationships (Mains), Ken->DaisukexHikari<-Hikaru is also strongly implied; Takeru/Miyako happened previously in my past fics, but currently mutually unrequited, as they "split" on good terms. (However, Miyako still has "some" feelings to handle re both Takeru and Ken...) {More might come later!} + Kou+Tai in background; are all main featured 'ship's here, but as for KouTai, mostly in the background for now. Hikaru still exists in this too, though, +does appear!)

{More details under the 'read more'!}

Shane did mention another given name here; however, I might pick a different one this time {unsure}

The precursor to the "REPEAT?_Verse" and "The Past World" (Royalty/Clones-verse A.U. timeline spinoffs!) (Hikaru cameos in Chapters 4 + 6 of 'The Past World', it also shows a later section of what would have eventually been part of Koushiro's 'ARC' in my old story, in my later fanfiction 'Infalliable', featuring Daisuke and Koushiro friendship during 'Chosen of Faith'!)

by Young Me circa Pre-2k10 (to eventually be re-written in Full) Or, in which Young Me casually uses foreshadowing to conceal that my O.C. is very much a Very (Mostly) Dead One. {i.e. SHANE answering the door instead of owner of the home}

... Except this may or may not have been on the site. I honesly can't remember, but if SOMEONE remembers seeing this, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING let me know!

{DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post} {DO NOT re-produce under ANY Circumstances!}

{DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post} (DO NOT re-produce anything on this post under ANY Circumstances)

^ YES, this is my original banner I used on the site back then, in all its badly-edited, badly-autoconverted-to-H.D. graphics glory.

[snarry-fest-adopt-a-prompt]

NEW RULES

Our new updated rules for this edition of the fest, and our new schedule! 

HOW TO CONTACT THE MODS

By email: snarryfest.adopt.a.prompt@gmail.com

On Tumblr: snarry-fest-adopt-a-prompt.tumblr.com

2022 SCHEDULE

Prompts released: June 10

Claiming opens: June 17

Check-in #1: August 26

Check-in #2: November 11

Claiming closes: December 9

Creations due: December 16

Posting begins: January 2

Posting ends: To be determined

Creators revealed: To be determined

GENERAL GUIDELINES AND INFO

WHAT IS ADOPT-A-PROMPT?

Adopt-a-Prompt is an anonymous, prompt-based, art and fic Snarry fest posting on AO3. We have rescued unused prompts from older editions of various Snarry and Harry Potter fests and are putting them up for adoption as a second chance.

AGE RESTRICTION

All participants must be at least 18 years old by January 1, 2023 regardless of the rating of their creation.

PAIRING

Snape/Harry must be the primary pairing of all creations. Any secondary pairings are allowed, but the focus of your creation must be Snarry.

LANGUAGE

Last year, we also accepted works in French and Italian. However, this year, all works must be in English. This rule may change again for future editions if the demand for other languages is high enough.

WORD COUNT

Since the creation period is quite long, the minimum word count this year is set to 3,000 words. There is no maximum, but we would advise, for the mods’ sake, keeping it under 50,000 words.

RATING AND TAGGING

We accept ratings from General to Explicit. Be advised that you must use the Archive Warnings as we do not accept the "Creator chose not to use archive warnings" option. Your work must also be rated and tagged appropriately. If we judge that your submitted work is not rated or tagged appropriately, you will be asked to correct it.

ART MEDIA

We accept all types of art creations, digital or traditional, comics, photomanips, photosets, fanvid, etc. The same rules of language, rating and tagging apply.

SELF-PROMPT

Given the nature and objective of the fest, to give a second chance to unused prompts, this year we have decided that there will be no self-prompt option available. You must choose a prompt from our list.

WILD CARD

There is a wild card option if you are unable to choose a prompt or you feel adventurous and want a challenge. The wild card gives the mods permission to select a prompt for you.

BETA READING

All submitted fics must be beta read by someone other than the author, or at the very least proofread for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. If you do not have a beta reader or are unable to find one, contact the mods who will provide you with a list of options or find one for you. If, when submitted, the mods judge that your fic has not been beta read properly, you will be asked to correct and resubmit it.

EXCLUSIVITY

You may not post your creation elsewhere until after the end of the fest and the creators are revealed. When submitted, your work must be completed. It cannot be part of a WIP or of a previously started series. However, you are free to create a sequel or other works based on your fest work after the fest is over.

HOW CLAIMING WORKS

To claim, you must fill and submit our claiming form. We will not be taking claims by email or through private messages.

Claiming opens on June 17 at 6pm CET and closes on December 9 at 6pm CET.

The prompts list can be found HERE once available.

The claiming form can be found HERE once available.

Prompts will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Each prompt can be claimed only once for fic and once for art.

When claiming, you can select your top 3 prompts in order of preference. If your first choice has already been claimed, you will be assigned your second choice. If both your first and second choices have already been claimed, you will be assigned your third choice. You are not obligated to select 3 prompts, but we recommend you do so at least at the beginning of claiming, when prompts can become unavailable very fast.

If you wish, you may claim the same prompt for both fic and art. You will have to write a fic and draw art for the prompt. You must then make sure to indicate your intention to participate as Writer & Artist on the claiming form.

We are open to collaboration between creators. You can co-create works with another creator (both usernames must then be provided on the form, although only one email address is necessary). Also, if a prompt has been claimed for both art and fic by two different creators, we can put the two creators in contact if they are both willing to collaborate.

There is no limit to the amount of prompts you can claim, but you must claim them one at a time. Once you have completed and submitted a prompt, you can then claim another.

Once you have submitted your claiming form, you will receive email confirmation within 48 hours. We ask that you respond to this email within 72 hours to confirm your official participation in the fest.

For the whole duration of the fest, please check your spam folder regularly, as some of our emails can end up there!

Claiming closes on December 9, so make sure you grab that prompt before then!

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE CREATING

While you work on your creation, please keep our rules in mind.

To preserve the fun of anonymity throughout the fest, we also ask that you please not discuss your prompt with anyone other than your alpha reader, your beta reader, your close cheerleader/fandom friends, and your friendly neighborhood mods, of course. Please avoid speaking of your prompt openly in public forums or chats. If you must go through a public forum to look for an alpha reader, a beta reader, or a cheerleader, please keep the information about your work to a minimum.

Since we provide six months of creation time between the opening of claiming and the submissions deadline, there will be two check-in points during this period. The first check-in will be on August 26, and the second, closer to the deadline, on November 11. On those days, an email will be sent to you, containing a link to our check-in form. If you do not fill and submit the form within 10 days of the check-in date, you will receive a warning email to remind you to check-in. If you do not complete the check-in within 3 days of receiving this email, we will consider that you have dropped out of the fest, and your prompt will be made available for other creators.

One week or so before submissions are due (if you have yet to submit your work) we will reach out again to remind you of the deadline, answer any questions you might have, or just make sure everything is in order. We will ask you to confirm that you will submit by the deadline or ask for an extension if you need it. If you do not respond to this email, and if you do not submit by the deadline, we will consider that you have dropped out of the fest.

Throughout the whole creation process, if you have any problems or questions, please feel free to contact us and we will do our best to help out.

ASKING FOR AN EXTENSION OR DROPPING OUT

We know that life gets in the way, that unexpected things happen, that creativity can stall, that the muses sometimes ignore us, so we are willing to give extensions if they are needed. We ask only that you let us know as soon as possible if you think you will need some extra time to complete your work. We will do our best to give you as much time as you need.

However, be aware that depending on the final number of submissions we receive, we might not be able to give you all the time you require. Six months is a long time to create, but we still recommend that you don't wait until the last minute to begin your work, though we know that can be very tempting. We also ask that if you receive an extension, you please respect this new deadline and do your best to commit to it. It would not be fair to prolong the fest longer than necessary and make other participants wait.

If you claim a prompt and subsequently feel unable to complete the work, we understand. Life can get in the way and dropping out is no problem at all. We only ask that you please inform us as soon as possible. This will allow us to free your prompt for another creator to claim.

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK!

Once you have completed your work, it's time to submit! Submissions are due on December 16, but if you are finished before this date, you are more than welcomed to submit before then.

When your work is ready to be submitted, please post it to the AO3 collection. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to post your fic.

1. Go to the SnarryFest: Adopt-a-Prompt! 2022 collection HERE.

2. Click on "Post to Collection"

3. In the section "Additional tags" add SnarryFest_Adopt_a_Prompt_2022

4. Click on the checkmark to "Add co-creators?" and add SnarryFest_Adopt_a_Prompt

5. Finish filling all the required info and formatting your work as usual.

6. Post it into the collection.

7. Once you have posted your work into the collection, please fill out the following header and email it to snarryfest.adopt.a.prompt@gmail.com. If any of your header information changes afterwards, please let us know.

Title:

Author/Artist:

Rating:

Word count (if applicable):

Art medium (if applicable):

Additional Pairings (if applicable):

Warnings/Tags:

Prompt (with number):

Summary:

AO3 Link:

Your work will not be visible into the collection until a mod looks it over and approves it. Each submission will be reviewed by a mod, if only to ensure that it respects the fest rules. We will not make any changes to your work, don't worry.

Once approved, you will see your work in the collection as Unrevealed and Anonymous, along with other Mystery works. You will have access to your fic if you need to make some last-minute changes (such as correcting typos or changing the formatting). However, we ask you to inform us if you make some major changes to your fic, which could impact the warnings or tagging or change the information provided in your header.

Posting starts on January 2. The posting date on your work will be updated once we post it.

To remain fair and unbiased, works will be posted in order of submission. The number of works posted per day will depend on the final number of submissions we receive, as will whether or not we will post on weekends. We will keep you informed about the schedule as soon as we know for certain, and we should be able to give you the exact date your work will be posted on if you want to know, because we know waiting can be hell!

Once your work is posted, you will remain anonymous until all the works have been posted. We will then reveal all the creators. The creator reveal date will be determined by the number of submissions and you will be informed ahead of time.

POSTING AFTER THE FEST

If you are unable to meet the deadline or to complete your work with the extension provided but still prefer not to drop out of the fest completely, it will still be possible for you to post into the collection for a certain duration after the fest is over. Contact the mods for details.

[theprincessbt]

22 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers | 2022

1. I will finish my story that is closest to completion.

2. I won’t start a new story until my current ones are completed OR deleted.

3. I will be more unique and won’t look to other writers any time I need an idea.

4. I will edit after I write.

5. I will use correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

6. I will stop using the word ‘said’ so much.

7. I will practice writing everyday.

8. I will do my research before writing any period pieces or fanfiction.

9. I will outline my stories.

10. I will write my stories in active voice.

11. I will not switch between active and passive voice.

12. I will proofread before publishing any of my stories.

13. I will avoid cliché prompts and scenarios.

14. I will control the pace of my story.

15. I will show, and not tell.

16. I will remove all distractions while I’m writing.

17. I will not switch between past and present tense.

18. I will not be pressured into publishing works until I’m ready.

19. I will form paragraphs with no more than four sentences.

20. I will create amazing plot twists to surprise my audience.

21. I will be specific and go into detail when writing.

22. I will take breaks between writing to avoid stress.

[islndgurl777]

20 questions, writer’s edition

Tagged by @salmonthestoryteller

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

56

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

303,004

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

12 Monkeys, Agent Carter, Critical Role, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Roswell New Mexico, Schitt’s Creek, Six of Crows, Star Wars, Supergirl, Teen Wolf

And like, technically I think I have a couple short ones for Star Trek AOS and Supernatural that I never posted to AO3, just to tumblr.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Heart and Soul(mates) - Supergirl (Kara x Lena)

You Should Be Mine - OUAT (Captain Swan)

You Oughta Know - RNM (1x10 coda, the beginning of my “give michael guerin a friend” series)

Say You’ll Be There - RNM (another “give michael guerin a friend” fic, with Michael, Liz, and Maria being friends)

Alive - RNM (1x12 from Nora’s perspective)

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably Alive. It ends with Nora dying at Caulfield.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I am not a big fan of unhappy endings, so I think most of my full fics have happy or at least hopeful endings. The happiest? Maybe...

time will lie down and be still - RNM (Practical Magic AU)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

No, I haven’t ever written any crossovers.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Rarely. I have a couple spicy fics. F/F, M/F so far. 

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Always. If someone is kind enough to take the time to leave a comment, I take the time to thank them for it.

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think so? If I did, I deleted and forgot about it. My comments are moderated, so my bet is that haters pause before they spew their nonsense because 1) they may not be able to be anonymous and that can really take the wind out of some peoples’ sails, and 2) there’s a good chance no one’s going to see it, so then what would be the point of starting the drama?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t think so...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone started to translate my spicy Teen Wolf fic on ff.net but I don’t think they ever finished it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I’m not opposed to trying it. I just have an inconsistent muse so it would be hard to coordinate with someone who worked by a schedule.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? to write for?

That’s a tough one. I am an unapologetic multishipper when it comes to reading; as long as I see characters that have chemistry, I’m down. When it comes to writing, I think I tend to write more gen or friend fics? Though I do write couple-y things too, but I don’t have a favorite.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oh man... I just got a comment today on one of my star wars fics, part of a series that I write very inconsistently for that kind of rewrites canon as if the main trio have soulmate-identifying marks. I have the rest of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy sketched out, but idk if I will ever finish...

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have no idea. Correct grammar and spelling? lmao

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. I think I tend to try to skip over detailing the scene or the characters’ appearances in favor of dialogue and inner monologue.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It’s hard for me because I only know one language, so I don’t write long stints in other languages because I don’t want to fuck it up; google translate is great for getting the gist of an idea, but not for judging tone/intent in what i’m translating, so i can’t rely on it to translate the intended message of my character. i’ll do short phrases if they’re relatively well-known, or endearments, especially if the character uses them in canon (like Arturo in RNM) but that’s about the extent of it. 

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Once Upon a Time.

20. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

oh man... i’m probably proudest of Bowl of Stars (s1 retelling of RNM from ghost!Rosa’s POV) probably because 1) it’s the longest fic I’ve ever written, 2) i wrote it with such consistency and speed i couldn’t believe it and 3) i felt like each chapter was better than the last, and it was so much fun to write. The fic and Rosa will always have a special place in my heart.

I’m not tagging anyone, but if any of my friends want to play, feel free to tag me so I can read yours!

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good 11/18

not my gif. Gellert

Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order, joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a   Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc

Masterlist

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

--

Learning the theory behind a spell was always a tedious work, she’d been a student and knew the feeling. However, it was a lesson that needed to be taught despite everyone’s protests.

She realised that she had created an escape refugee with her classes, allowing the children to do and say things they weren’t allowed with other professors. Durmstrang itself was a strict school, and she noticed how the students’ rigid discipline relaxed a bit in her classroom. Sometimes it could get out of control.

When she finished drawing the movement of the fire-making spell, she turned around to find several children leaning on their elbows. One boy next to the window was sleeping and a group in the back was sending each other flying pieces of paper.

She looked at the Flitterbloom on the desk, and an idea started to form in her head. She moved her wand slightly, and the plant started to grow uncontrollably; the roots broke the vase and its vines squirmed their way down the desk, growing with every second.

“Professor Williams!” At a girl’s desperate scream, other students started to get nervous as well, but when they saw that Kate had her arms crossed and didn’t intend to help, panic settled among them.

Some students got up and ran to the door, but Kate closed it from where she stood.

“There’s a situation that requires everyone’s attention! Imagine this happened in your house. Would you run out the door and leave? Let it destroy your home and your belongings? Imagine it’s a Devil’s Snare.”

The bush kept growing, now moving to the windows. 

“Are you going to let it escape to the castle?”

One of the girls that sat on the first row got up and quickly closed the window, avoiding a gigantic root behind her. Somebody shouted ‘Colloportus!’ And the windows of the other side of the room closed hermetically as well.

“Well done, you saved the school, now you need to save yourselves! And I told you how!” Kate jumped over a vine. The students started climbing on their desks.

She saw how Micael Angelov ended up with his back pressed against a wall, she saw him looking at her and then the blackboard and proceeded to shout ‘Incendio!’.

Part of the plant burst into flames, consuming the vine and part of the root, giving hope to some students were near him.

In a moment, all of them attempted to cast the spell, some of them succeeding quite masterfully.

Kate approached a girl and tilted her wrist to the left, making a flame shoot out of her wand with such a force that she stumbled. “Perfect!”

They continued to do so until Kate decided to stop to correct some errors after returning the plant to its original state.

She let her students finish copying what was written on the board and started handing out a roll of parchment to each one.

“These are copies of an article I found in a gardening magazine in the library. I want you to read it and write down any mistakes you find. In the greenhouse we will follow the instructions the article proposes to transplant Flitterbottoms and see why it is wrong”.

When the class ended Kate began to hang up the drawings of the different plants and flowers that she had asked them to make while the children collected their belongings. She could not help but overhear a conversation taking place near the door.

“First years never take part…” said a girl. Kate looked at her and took the piece of spellotape out of her mouth.

“And why is that? Everybody can participate.” The girl just shrugged.

“My brother says that with the knowledge of the other students, first years don’t have a chance of winning.”

“The question is: would you like to take part?” There was silence for a moment, but soft murmurs started to fill the place. Kate could hear some ‘It would be fun’ or ‘nice’ among some ‘no’ and puffs.

“Don’t underestimate plants. Look around you, I bet we can find something that could fit the theme of the contest. If you want to write your name on a piece of parchment and I will inscribe you.”

Micael Angelov said goodbye with a shy smile and disappeared out the door.

Kate had not seen any marks or bruises on Micael’s face since that day in the quidditch pitch, so she was partially relieved, and he seemed more comfortable as the weeks went by. They were getting better, and so was she.

As she finished hanging up the drawings, and with all the students already out of class, sounds of commotion were heard outside the room.

She looked out the window and saw Astrid Rhode’s worried face as she tried to disperse the crowd that had gathered outside.

Rhode turned and their gazes met; she motioned to Kate to come closer, and she obeyed.

“Now what has happened?” she sighed.

Astrid pointed to the column of Grindelwald’s mark, which now looked very different from when she first saw it: a crack ran halfway down the length of the pillar and was blackened at the bottom. She touched the broken stone with her middle finger and she perceived a buzzing sensation 

“It was done with magic...”

Rhode was too busy trying to get the students to disperse to respond, but Kate didn’t need confirmation. Something inside her was telling her that it wasn’t a student prank or an accident.

 --

She kept her diary inside her cape and took Dumbledore’s map with her to inspect on her way to the library. Each step was a disappointment after another as nothing happened.

When she arrived, she kept it next to her little notebook. She went to ring the bell but stopped before doing so. She had bothered Corentin enough.

She went upstairs floor by floor, read all the posters in the different sections, but could not find what she was looking for.

A hunch had led her to think that perhaps she should give the Grindelwald affair a chance and, she hoped, she could find documents that would give her a clue. For the moment, her efforts were not fruitful. She was inspecting the third floor when a black cloud appeared beside her and evaporated, showing Corentin.

Kate gave a start and took her hand to her heart.

“Don’t do that!” The librarian just smiled.

“Why haven’t you called me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Nonsense. Look at you, you’re like a headless chicken all over the place, messing up my library.”

Kate huffed a laugh.

“Did you hear what happened?”

“On the mark? Yes.”

“I need access to the Durmstrang history. Do you have...files or something?”

“What are you getting at?” Kate shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Corentin suggested that she accompany him and together they went up the last set of stairs.. At the top, more books covered the walls.

He approached the end of the room and after airing his wand in an intricate manner, the block of shelves fell away from the wall, revealing scrolls of parchment and folders.

“Here you will find archives from 1894 to 1899. As well as all the editions of the DD.” Seeing Kate’s face, he corrected, “the Daily Durmstrang, the newspaper. Karkarov removed it from the curriculum. But I believe that Rhode wants to implement it again. If you want to find something about Deathly Hallows, this is not the place.”

“No. I want to know more about him. I think... I don’t know... maybe it’s stupid. I don’t even know what I want to find.”

“Then get comfortable. You’ll be here for a while.”

And Corentin was not wrong.

For weeks she went to the library to review those documents. She didn’t go every afternoon, just as her schedule allowed. Planning classes, preparing activities for the greenhouse, correcting homework and reading the syllabus she was going to teach took up most of his time.

But the afternoons she had free time she used to go up to the top floor of the library and sit at the small table in the corner to examine all the scrolls she could find.

She read entries from the Daily Durmstrang newspaper, a very interesting activity that she would have liked to see implemented at Hogwarts, about changes in teachers, subjects, quidditch events and about AEDA. At the moment, Grindelwald did not appear. She also found employment contracts, building renovation orders, and dance brochures.

On one of her trips to the library, she thought she saw Mer Yankelevich and Libor Marek talking alone in a corridor. This reminded her of the day Flavia Hodges left Durmstrang.

Three guards escorted her to the carriage. Kate watched the scene from the bridge with her arms crossed as Rhode said goodbye.

The rest of the teachers were also there, and although the students were not allowed to come near, Kate knew that their faces were glued to the windows.

Rhode gestured to her and Kate crossed the bridge to get closer.

“I think I’ve forgotten the potions you gave me.” said Flavia with a small mouth. Kate nodded and promised to come back as soon as possible with the bottles.

The castle was empty and very quiet, which allowed her to run to the hospital wing. On the way back, she heard footsteps coming from the hall and the main door closing.

When she identified Libor Marek’s voice, she stopped short before turning the corner.

“You haven’t left me alone since Karkarov left. Don’t try to drag me into your affairs, they don’t interest me.”

“But...”

Impatient to find out who he was talking to, she kept walking, looking at the ground and pressing Flavia’s potions to her chest, pretending not to hear anything. Yankelevich and Marek were shocked to see her pass by. She looked up and asked innocently,

“The carriage hasn’t left yet, has it?”

The charms teacher hid her concern with a smile.

“No, I think they’re waiting for you.”

“Ah, perfect.” She sighed in supposed relief and without bothering to look for her wand, he quickly aired a hand to open the door and leave the castle.

Distracted by the memory, she didn’t hear Corentin approaching from behind until she saw his shadow on the table.

She jumped up as she turned and saw his slim figure in a black suit.

“Will you stop that?”

Corentin ignored her and read the documents on the table over her shoulder.

“Have you found anything of interest?”

“Maybe now I’ll start doing it. These folders are from his last year here.”

“If you need anything, you know where I am.” Just as she thanked him, he transformed himself into his bat form and flew to the chandelier.

Kate put her head in one hand and with the other she squeezed one side of her belly, where it hurt. Forgetting to take the potion on the first day of her period was a serious mistake.

Tired of searching, she momentarily forgot the purpose of all the trips to the library and was reading an article in the Daily Durmstrang about the creatures that lived in the lakes. She turned the page lazily, wanting to finish the seemingly endless article.

As she laid eyes on the next page, she jumped up.

Gellert Grindelwald: king of the AEDA, by J.M. Nilsen. June 1899

Grindelwald, a sixth-grade student, turned up hopefully at Europe’s most famous dark arts competition, not knowing what its outcome would be.

The first of his class, hardworking and tenacious, are some of the many qualities that have led him to this glorious victory. The question is, which project did he do that will undoubtedly win the competition?

This year’s theme for the AEDA was challenging and confusing to many: Bottled Death.

After much thought, this student decided to take the meaning of this challenge literally. And that is that he has managed, for the first time in history, to catch a real obscurus in a glass container.

No one knows exactly where he has found such a creature, and it has been a project that has been very frowned upon.

However, despite the complaints and unanswered questions from the jury, they have been forced to give him first place, for the most spectacular feat seen in Durmstrang’s history.

Wizards and witches from all over the world have been impressed with the young Grindelwald mentioning that not only is he destined to do incredible things but that Durmstrang’s reputation will remain high for centuries.

It is rumoured that Grindelwald has been offered several deals from different magic ministries, but the truth of these facts is not known at this time.

In any case, Gellert still has a promising year at school ahead of him. What other wonders will he be able to achieve?

Kate’s eyes were wide open. At the end of the article there was a photo with a smiling Grindelwald in the trophy room, holding his cup tightly and looking proudly at his creation, displayed in a glass case. The light from various flashes moved in the photograph.

She blinked several times and looked out the small window on her right, hoping that the piece of sky in sight would give her the ability to connect points in her mind.

She stood up and frantically searched the archives from the previous year, where she thought she remembered seeing a particularly striking document. Triumphant, she found the scroll she was looking for and unrolled it.

Erik Aaberg missing.

The poster also had a photo attached.

She shook her head and returned to the 1899 documentation and continued to turn the pages of the newspaper.

Accident in the trophy room

A new subject!

Uniforms: practicality or oppression?

A student appears at the lake: a near-death experience.

Grindelwald expelled.

“Oh, Merlin...” she murmured. She collapsed on the chair and looked at the papers scattered on the table. She ran her hand over her mouth and stroked her lip with a finger, deep in thought.

She was reading the last of the articles when Corentin appeared again.

“You look worried.”

“Corentin...” she extended the text about the obscurus to him. “Do you remember this?”

Corentin flashed his eyes across the paper, reading the article, and made an “o” shape with his mouth and then frowned.

“I can’t believe I’ve forgotten this... Erik Aaberg I think...” Kate passed him the missing person sign and Corentin nodded.

“Corentin... he almost killed him...”

“I know.”

“It’s hard to think a child could do something like that... because he was really a child. He did more things like this, didn’t he?”

“He sure did...” Kate leaned back in her chair and looked at Corentin as he read.

A twitch of the eyes. A lick across her lips. A raise of the brow.

“Where?”

“Where what?” Asked a confused Corentin.

“Well, he had to do all the experiments somewhere, didn’t he? In his bedroom?”

The librarian left the paper in his hand on the table before shaking his head.

“I don’t think so, no. But...” Without another word, he turned around and Kate saw him heading across the room, opened a shelf and searched with her index finger until she found what she was looking for. He returned with a very heavy book.

“They used to keep a record of classroom loans, they stopped doing that in 1940, don’t ask me why.”

He put the book on the table and before Kate could protest that she wouldn’t spend another week rummaging through the archives, Corentin opened it and waved his wand.

“Grindelwald.” He said to the book.

The cover opened, and the pages were flipped frantically until it was closed again. Corentin tried “Gellert” but the book did the same.

“He didn’t use any class.”

“How can we be sure of this? He tried to kill a boy, I think he would also be capable of not signing up for a record book.” Corentin sighed and looked at her not knowing what to say.

“I have... I have the feeling that it is important to know where he was doing it.”

“Why should it be?”

“I don’t know. It’s a very strange feeling... I’m sure that’s the way it is, but I can’t make sense of it.”

He looked at her carefully for a moment. 

“The times I’ve ignored my instincts, I didn’t get the play right.” He said at last. “But answer me this...”

“Sure.”

“What’s the use of tracking Gellert?”

Kate looked at both sides but, although they were alone on that floor, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She took out her diary and opened it at the end, tore out the last page and put it back. With a quill from the desk, she wrote, "

There is a Death Eater in Durmstrang

Corentin read it, and after raising his eyebrows, he shook his wand again and the paper broke into a thousand pieces in the air.

“That’s why you’re here.” It wasn’t a question, but Kate nodded anyway.

“I can’t tell you anything else.”

“I don’t need to know.” After a pause, she added, “Do you think it has anything to do with Gellert?”

A shadow crossed her expression. Voldemort would return, it wasn’t unreasonable to think the other most powerful dark wizard in history might be involved. That he was in prison would not be an obstacle.

“It could be, yes.”

“There are tunnels in the castle.” He said out of the blue. “It’s an extensive network that Nerida Vulcanova built in case it was necessary to protect the children. It’s possible... there may also be secret rooms.”

Kate jumped up.

“There are maps? Plans of the castle?”

“Yes, there’s only one problem: only Nerida Vulcanova knows how to read them.”

After tidying up and thanking Corentin for all his help, she left the library with a twinkle in her eye.

The search for Voldemort’s follower was proving frustrating and with no results. With this new goal in mind, she exchanged one dark wizard for another, but deep inside she knew that there was a connection that, for the moment, she was unable to see.

As she walked through the lonely corridors of the castle, she reached into her inner pocket to pull out her wand and give a little more light to her path.

In the attempt, all the papers she had there, flew away and were left scattered on the floor.

“Merlin...” She bent down to pick them up and panicked when she couldn’t find Dumbledore’s supposed map. She sighed with relief when she saw it a little further down on the ground.

Something caught her attention.

Kate picked up the map and saw that it had a small black line drawn on it and she could put her hand in the fire swearing that it wasn’t there before.

When she turned to go to her bedroom, the line disappeared as if someone was erasing it from the paper. She stopped short and stared at the scroll, then around her and back at the map again.

She took a step back, and when a dot appeared on the paper, her heart began to race. She turned around again and moved forward a bit more, watching with enormous eyes as a black line drew itself with each step. When she stopped, so did the line.

However, something curious happened next; as she continued walking, the line did not move.  She changed course and turned into a corridor. The line twisted with her.

Kate continued along the ground floor of the castle for a while, trying every turn and every hallway until she reached the main gate. She looked at the map again, at some point the line of the path she had left behind had erased. Trying, unsuccessfully, not to make a sound when she opened the door, she slipped outside.

The night was quiet; the wind whistled through the trees and Kate’s footsteps echoed as she walked.

She turned left towards the greenhouse, but nothing happened; she took the path on the right, which led to the back of the castle, but the map remained empty.

As she walked towards the bridge, the line appeared and as she stared at the path that went into the darkness of the forest; she remembered the other paper that Dumbledore had sent her,

Trust him in the woods.

--

[Part 12]

Tag List:  @eldritchscreech​ @meteora-fc​ @cazreadsstuff​ @the-navistar-carol​

[ancienttextmoderntablet]

The Adornment of a Goddess with Scents: A Sumerian shirnamshuba song of the Goddess Ninisina

This is my rendition of a cultic song of Ninisina, the chief deity of the important Mesopotamian city of Isin, whose most prominent role in the larger Mesopotamian pantheon was that of a healing goddess, a role she shared with a number of other goddesses such as Gula, Nintinuga, and Bau. Her son Damu, a so-called “dying god” who was widely featured in Sumerian lamentations and was associated in this role with Dumuzi, frequently assists her in her curative procedures. A remarkable Sumerian letter of the Larsa king Sin-iddinam to Ninisina herself (one of a number examples of letters of humans to gods) survives to us where Sin-iddinam implores the goddess to cure a grave illness that cannot be diagnosed that a demon infected him with in a dream. She is also memorably depicted as a ferocious protector of king Shulgi’s enemies in a shirnamerima song, the so-called “Execration of Shulgi’s Enemies” or “Shulgi S,” where in one passage, she seems to use her knowledge as a physician to maximize harm to the enemy. Ninisina’s spouse was the warrior god Pabilsang, chief god of the city of Larak, one of the five original cities of Mesopotamia before the gods sent the great flood. Pabilsang is best known to posterity for his place in the nighttime sky as the constellation Sagittarius.

In this text, Ninisina is described as adorning her body with various oils and perfumes. In ancient Mesopotamia, the perfume industry was relatively advanced and utilized a number of aromatic trees and plants, many of which were exotic imports. Most famous was the eren tree, originally understood to grow in the eastern mountains, which was the prize sought by Gilgamesh in his heroic journey, leading to conflict with Huwawa, the guardian of the forest, who was imbued with paralyzing aurae. The song does not mention it explicitly, but the goddess was most likely applying scents over the whole of her naked body while beautifying herself for sex with her spouse (or possibly the mortal king, although there is more evidence for this practice with the goddess Inana). The application of perfumes is featured during the most detailed account of the so-called “sacred marriage ritual” between king Iddin-Dagan of Isin and the goddess Inana.

The lone ancient manuscript of this text currently known to us is an immaculately preserved manuscript in the Harvard Semitic Museum. Here is a picture (credit Havard Semitic Museum and the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative):

The text was first published in copy in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies in 1962. The original editor of this text, Mark Cohen (“The Incantation-Hymn: Incantation or Hymn?,” Journal of the American Oriental Society volume 95 (1975), pg. 601, see also the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk), text number 4.22.2) suggested that this cultic song may have been performed while the statue of the goddess was naked in order to appease her anger.

The reading of this text in the original Sumerian and its translation is as follows. The character “š” is pronounced “sh” and the character “ĝ” is pronounced “ng” (a nasal “n”). The subscripted numbers are not pronounced, and the signs given in brackets ({...}) are not pronounced (they merely indicate what category the word belongs to). My translation differs substantially from the previous edition of this text (including several different sign readings and values). A backslash indicates where the line has been indented.

1. i3-li-a i3-li-a i3-li he2-en-na-tum2 /na-aĝ2-i3-li-a 2. i3 lum-ma he2-en-na-tum2 3. tum-ma sag9-ga-ĝu10 ul-la 4. ga-ša-an-ĝu10 ga-ša-an sir2-sir2-e /ama ugu ma-ma 5. ga-ša-an-ĝu10 kurun-a tuš-a-ra  6. Ga-ša-an-i3-si-in{ki}-na kurun-a tuš-a-ra 7. izi an-na mu2-mu2-de3 8. ga-ša-an-ĝu10 sim{mušen} -gin7 tu5-tu5-a 9. i3 {ĝeš}eren-na i3 ha-šu-ur2-ra-ka 10. i3 {ĝeš}eren-na nam-dim3-me-er ki aĝ2 11. i3 šim-gig i3 bulugx-ga 12. i3 ab2 kug-ge gara2 ab2-šilam-ma 13. i3-nun tur3 kug ga-ga amaš-gin7 ga-ga 14. i3 šim-gin7 an-šag4-ge-ka 15. i3 ligidba(ŠIM.{d}NIN.URTA) {ĝeš}eren babbar-ra-ka /mul-ma-al he2-em-mi-ib2-za 16. zi-pa-aĝ2-ĝa2-na i3 šim {ĝeš}eren-na-ka 17. gaba-ni i3 {ĝeš}eren babbar-ra-ka (reverse) 18. igi-na i3-a he2-ni-ib2-lum-lum-e /i3-li he2-en-na-su3 19. gu-sa-ni i3 šim {ĝeš}eren-na-ka /hu-mu-ni-ib2-lum-lum-e 20. siki ur2 siki pa dub-dub-ba-ni i3-li he2-en-na-an-su3 21. gu2 bar za-gin3 šu gur-ra-ni i3-li he2-em-su3-su3 22. šu ĝir3 aĝ2-lum-ma-lam-ma-ni /i3-li he2-em-luh-e 23. ĝeš-ge-en-ge-na alan šu du7-a  i3-a he2-en-nu2 24. nin ab2 a-e ĝar-ra-gin7 i3 he2-la2-e (double ruling) 25. 24 šir3-nam-šub {d}Nin-isin2{si}-na-kam

<br />

1. Fine oil shall be fitting for her, it is the “state of (being covered in) fine oil”!<br /> 2. Luxuriant oil shall be fitting for her! 3. My beautiful …, swollen (with attractiveness), 4. My lady, Lady Sirsir, birth mother …, 5. For my lady, who dwells among the liquor, 6. For Ninisina, who dwells among the liquor, 7. Fire is burning in the sky! 8. My lady, bathing like a swallow 9. Oil of juniper, oil of cypress 10. Oil of juniper, loved by divinity 11. Oil of the shimgig tree, oil of the bulug tree 12. Butter of the pure cow, cream of the cow 13. Ghee of the pure cattle pen, cream(?) as if (from) the sheepfold, cream 14. Like oil resin, it is of the midst of heaven 15. Oil of the euphorbia plant, oil of white juniper, may it splash (upon you) 16. On her throat, oil of juniper 17. On her chest, oil of white juniper 18. On her face may oil be made luxuriant! May fine oil be sprinkled upon her! 19. On the muscles of her neck, may oil of juniper be made luxuriant! 20. On her hair, styled from base to tip, may fine oil be sprinkled upon her! 21. On the nape of her neck, ringed with lapis, may fine oil be sprinkled upon her! 22. May fine oil cleanse her hands and feet, that which flourish and thrive(?) 23. May her perfect limbs and form lie in oil! 24. May the woman, like a cow placed in the water, be immersed in oil!

subscript: 24 lines: it is a shirnamshub song of Ninisina.

line 1) The very beginning of the song is pronounced “ili’a ili’a ili.” Such a replication of the “l” noise, called “ululation,” is frequently employed at the beginning of Sumerian cultic songs.

line 3) “tum” is primarily a value used to spell Akkadian words, the meaning of Sumerian tum here is obscure. The spelling tum-ma is possibly an error for ib2-ba “hips,” which in this context would have a highly sexualized connotation, in the possession of the would-be lover.

line 4) Possibly reflecting the Etarsirsir temple in the city of Girsu, which was a temple of the goddess Bau, who is associated with Ninisina as a healing goddess during this period. ma-ma possibly reflects the Emesal form of the verb ĝar “to set, put, establish” or the divine name Mama. Mama was a birth goddess: if correct, the reference here is unclear, but may have a sexual connotation.

line 5) Presumably this describes the goddess’s participation in a banquet.

line 9) Sumerian eren is often translated as “cedar” based on the association of the tree with the Lebanese cedar arising primarily from the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic. However, in the Old Babylonian period this is probably an anachronism: the eren tree grows in the mountains east of Mesopotamia.

line 10) Elsewhere the eren tree is also described as the “flesh of divinity.”

line 13) The interpretation of Sumerian ga-ga here is uncertain: it may be the Emesal form of the verb “to bring” or another dairy product. The cattle pen and sheepfold (Sumerian tur3 and amaš) were often invoked in description of the dairy industry and its productivity.

line 20) Sumerian siki ur2 was understood by Cohen as pubic hair, but in conjunction with siki pa it is describing the hair of the head from the base to the tip of the hair follicle (for the meaning, see Couto Ferreira Etnoanatomia y partonomia del cuerpo humano en sumerio y acadio (2009), pg. 108). The verb dub/dab6 may be more technically describing a specific hairstyle worn by young women, embodied by the goddess Inana, as discussed by Mirelman and Sallaberger, Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie 100 pg. 83.

[inventors-fair]

Peaceful Commentary pt. 1

1-9 of 18 under the cut~

@ace-hobo​ — Creative Inspiration

This is a great take on the Impulse Draw. If we hadn’t had one in the winners, this one might have made it into the runners-up. I like the aggressive cost without being overpowered. Your flavor text really knocked it out of the park! I can imagine the art being painted with the spirit guiding the young artist. Lovely.

@aethernalstars​ — Symphonic Revelation

It’s only coincidence that you guys are together alphabetically, I swear. Anyway, this card is...difficult to parse at first glance, as much as it does make sense. You should probably word it like Burn at the Stake, where it’s “the number of creatures tapped this way.” For its low cost, this card could probably be rare. It’s complex enough and feels like a rare, at least to me.

@dabudder​ — Tedious Modifications.

The problem with that last ability is that it’s three separate lines that you’ve put into one: “You can’t cast spells,” “Creatures you control can’t attack,” and “Prevent all damage that sources your opponents control would deal to you.” And that would clog up this card significantly. I honestly wish I could like this card, but it’s painfully frustrating to play against and the damage prevention simply isn’t in black’s slice of the color pie. I do really enjoy what you did with fading.

@emrylurkeroftheloch​ — Artisan’s Festivity

I like this card a lot! The flavor actually kind hits on the flavor difference between what some people submit to the Fair here, and I like the image that you captured of peace on Kaladesh. The fact that it’s an instant that gives things haste is kind of hard to understand, but I guess it wouldn’t be the first card to do so. It’s pretty aggressive for a peace contest, but I like what you’ve done with it.

@fluffysheeplion​ — Study Buddy

This card could almost have been a runner-up. The name feels silver-bordered in this iteration, but it makes sense. There should be a comma after “scry X.” The flavor text should be in quotations and honestly, while it makes sense, isn’t super exciting. As a card itself, though! Purely mechanically, this is a great common and I think you had the right idea. Just make sure to clean things up a little in the future for presentation.

@ghost31415926535 — Mourning Feast

When you submit as text, make sure that you include the rarity, because I wasn’t sure what to make it in the render. Additionally, this was copied exactly, including the lowercase “food” and the missed period. Nitpicks aside, though, I’m not sure exactly what to feel about this card? It’s a little macabre and feels more black than white. I think the general feeling that you were hoping for was celebratory, but it just feels like you’re making food out of dead creatures in my mind. Maybe it’s just me.

@gollumni​ — Moment of Humanity

I think “Creatures can’t attack until your next turn” would make more sense here. Also, “cast this spell only during your precombat main phase” would technically be correct? I think? There are rules managers who would know this better than I would. I would make this an uncommon, personally, despite the fact that you’re not...wrong to make it a rare? I really don’t mean to be critical of this card — you’ve made a nice and flavorful little combat piece. It’s worth editing to make its potential as strong as possible. Hm, the more I think about it, it might need to exile itself. Recursion of this would be nasty....

@gus-goose — Lifelong Bond

This is a neat little card. I think it would behoove you to look into a card maker program that allows for sagas. For those reading the commentary, keep in mind that this card was supposed to be rare according to the submitter. Not sure what happened there. Anyway, this card stands up on its own, and frankly I think it could be an uncommon. I like the unique twist on sagas that you made here to tell a story of a moment rather than history.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ — Sculptures Restorer

The only change I would make is to knock off the ‘s’ from the name and make it “Sculpture Restorer.” This is an artifact lover’s best friend, and I think that this is an insanely powerful uncommon that pushes some space in terms of power, but not to a broken degree. I would be worried about this card going off in some combo decks, but recursion always does that. I can think of a zillion fun things to do with this card. 

~

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Part 55) [Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb, sexual coercion of minors implied, a minor offering sexual favors, fire

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted (and possibly some future content), look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54

Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce more and more quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intention,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the cardamom.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it’s a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said. The ‘but I can’ was implied.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the main kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already vanished before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in violent flames. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand, at that very moment, decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to look at them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

[majingojira]

Buffy Summers for 5e

Inspired by boredom and Tulok the Barbarian on Youtube, I thought I’d give a go to one of my favorite characters. 

Who could easily be written up for 5e as a PC.  

Godzilla’s my main, but PC in D&D?  Not so much. 

Note: Edited for a small correction. 

Goals:  Buffy Summers, as a character, has a lot of things going for her.  

Goal 1: Monster Mashing - Buffy has to be really, really good at Slaying.  She is the Slayer after all. 

Goal 2: Quipping.  Buffy has a sharp mouth on her, so we got to reflect that somehow mechanically. 

Goal 3: PTSD.  Buffy’s seen things that no one should see and it shows. 

Of course, we’ll be using the Standard Point Array.  There is no multiclassing in this build, but she does have certain requirements.  Our top 3 stats are going to be physical ones.  Because of the mechanics of D&D, certain things will be prioritized. 

Our top is Strength (15).  She’s super-strong, but this is as close as we can get to that for now.  Next is Dexterity (14).  Buffy is a very agile fighter, avoiding hits whenever she can and usually doesn’t wear much armor (She does when she needs to, especially in the comics, so don’t feel bad about giving her a breastplate.  Constitution next (13), she’s taken massive beatings and keeps on ticking. Wisdom is next (12), I’d have liked it higher, but she does make some epic mistakes.  Next is Charisma (10). We’ll be shoring this up in a bit, but Buffy did ruin her reputation with one burned down gymnasium. We’ll be dumping Intelligence (8).  To quote her, “When am I ever going to need math, history, or...the English language...”

Point Array:  STR: 15 DEX: 14 CON: 13 INT: 8 WIS: 12 CHA: 10

Buffy is a Vampire Slayer, chosen to defend the world from the forces of darkness. To me, that screams variant human Scourge Aasimar.  Scourge Aasimar gain a +2 to Charisma and a +1 Constitution.  They have 60ft of Darkvision and Celestial Resistance, meaning she can resist Necrotic and Radiant damage. She also has the Healing Hands ability and is able to heal HP equal to her level with a touch as an action.  This can be done once per long rest.  She can also cast the Light cantrip because even she sometimes needs a flashlight.  She can also read and write Common and Celestial.

For Backgrounds, Buffy is a Haunted One. Buffy’s Harrowing Events are many and varied, mostly stemming from her calling.  She’s chosen to embrace it and is stronger for it, but it still hurts. Because the hardest thing to do in the world is live in it. 

Example traumas to call upon include: Her cousin having her life drained out of her right in front of her eyes by an invisible monster (Der Kindestod), dying at the hands of the master, Angel, dying to save your little sister, battling her own manifested fears of dying/being buried alive/becoming a vampire, and that’s just by the time she was 17 years old. 

From this, she gains two skills.  Pick Investigation and Arcana.  She also gets a bonus language.  Pick Abyssal, because she slays a LOT of demons. 

She also gains the feature Heart of Darkness, which is great character stuff in that people have seen that she has gone through hell and it can garner either sympathy or fear depending on how it is played, up to and including creating her own Scooby gang. 

This also comes with a Monster Hunter’s Pack and 33gp.  Why a Monster Hunter’s pack?  Because it comes with stakes. 

Now it’s time for Class.  Buffy fights the forces of evil, so she’s obviously a Fighter. Her hit die is a d10, her saving throughs are Strength and Constitution.  For classes, go with Acrobatics and Athletics.  She was a cheerleader after all. 

From her class, she gains a Fighting Style.  Go with Dueling for +2 damage from a one-handed weapon as long as one of your hands doesn’t also hold a weapon.  Note, fists do not count as weapons for this ability, so it makes a wooden stake to the heart really hurt in her hands.  

She also gains the Second Wind ability.  This allows her to recover 1d10+ her Fighter level HP as a bonus action. 

Level 2 Fighters gain Action Surge, allowing her to take one additional action once per short rest.  

Level 3 is when she can choose her archetype.  Buffy is all about hunting monsters, so the Monster Slayer Monster Hunter is perfect for her. It’s Unearthed Arcana for the Fighter, so ask your GM for approval. This grants her one bonus proficiency (go with Perception), Tool Proficiency (go with Weavers tools, so she can make some killer outfits),  a bonus language (Infernal), but those aren’t the reasons we’re going for this class. 

First, it grants Superiority Die. Buffy is a smart fighter and uses things to her advantage.  This starts as 4d8 and has many uses including Precision Attack (Add one to attack roll), Sharpened Attack (add one to a damage roll), Sharpened Senses (add to Wisdom (perceptioN) to find creatures or objects, or Insight to check if people are lying to her), and Superior Willpower.  These dice are regained after a short or long rest. 

Second, it grants Hunter’s Mysticism. This allows her to cast Detect Magic as a Ritual, and Protection from Good and Evil once per long rest, using Wisdom as her spellcasting ability.  

She also gains another Aasimar ability: Radiant Consumption.  Once per long rest she can transform and glow with light across a 10ft area.  Creatures within 10ft of her take 1/2 her level (rounded down) in radiant damage at the end of her turn and add radiant damage to one of her attacks equal to her level.  Buffy doesn't really glow but is definitely known for turning the tide and kicking butt unexpectedly. 

Level 4 fighters gain a Feat.  Go with Tavern Brawler.  Buffy punches and kicks most of the time, and uses any weapon she wants otherwise, be it a magical ax or a shard of glass.  It also provides a +1 to Strength or Con, go with STR.  

Level 5 fighters have an Extra attack. Which means she can attack 3 times per round with an action surge.  

Level 6 grants another feat, this time grab the Magic Initiate Feat.  She’s not much of a spell caster, but she has cast before.  We’ll be going with the Bard spell list for her for primarily one spell.  Or, rather, Cantrip: Vicious Mockery.  Now she can wound people’s pride and HP with her wit.  From the same list, grab Message (”If the apocalypse comes, beep me”) and also grab Healing Word.  Because her pep talks are short but very effective. 

7th level fighters gain class feature bonuses.  Which in this case means an extra Superiority die (5d8), and the Monster Slayer ability. Whenever she adds a superiority die for damage, she adds 2 dice instead of one.  Meaning, that is she uses an action surge, she can attack 3 times with a battleax (1d8 when one-handed) for 1d8+2 per attack +2d8 from Sharpened Attack, for a total of 5d8+6+ her strength mod for each (another +6).  

8th level fighters gain another feat. Grab Alert. Buffy is rarely caught off guard, which is how she’s stayed alive for so long. 

Level 9 fighters gain Indomitable. Once per long rest, she can re-roll a failed save.  Paired with Superiority Dice, this is very useful. 

10th level fighters see their superiority dice turn into d10s.  So now that combo super attack I described can hurt even more. 

11th level fighters gain a second extra attack.  Now, with an action surge, she can hit 4 times with her ax.  Or fists.  Or a chair.  Or anything else that’s convenient. 

Level 12 fighters gain another feat/ability score improvement.  We’re all up on the feats we need, so let’s start pumping up her stats.  Starting with Strength (18).

Level 13 fighters can use Indomitable twice a day. 

14th level fighters gain another Ability Score Improvement.  Let’s boost her Constitution (16).  

15th level fighters see their next archetype feature.  Here, her Superiority dice increase to 6.  And when she rolls for Initiative and has no Superiority dice remaining, she regains one.  

The 16th level sees another Ability Score improvement.  Cap Strenght again (20).  

17th Level fighters gain 2 uses of Action Surge and 3 uses of Indomitable per long rest. 

18th level Monster Hunters see their Superiority dice become d12s.  

19th level Fighters see their last Ability score Improvement.  Boost Con one last time (18). 

Our capstone is the 20th level of Fighter, gaining a third extra attack.  

Pros: 

A fighter with some decent social bonuses to hold her up, so she has some use outside of combat. 

She can attack in a variety of ways, and with all the weapons, and her wide variety of hits makes it very versatile.  Aside from Bludgeoning, Slashing, and Piercing, she can strike with Radiant and Psychic damage, but the former group is more impactful.  

Above-average healing for a non-caster. She starts with (assuming averages)  184 HP (Assuming averages) with +20 healing from Healing Hands, a 1d4+1 from Healing Word, and second wind healing 1d10+20 on top of that.  She can soak up a lot of hits.  

Cons: 

Low AC.  She’s going to need a shield to really bring her up to snuff. 

Casting saves are very low.   Casting with two different ability scores can hold her back quite a bit.  You may want to move a Stat boost to Charisma or Wisdom as you see fit. 

Limited Superiority use and pool.   

Despite her catching arrows and being very much a kung fu fighter, I felt this covered her a lot better and made an overall more viable character than could be done otherwise.  

But what do you think?

[loftec]

It’s been four years today since I put up the first chapter of NTW. Let’s celebrate with a new chapter, and a couple of sneaky extras.

I have been editing old NTW chapters (which has been slow, painful, discouraging work) and it felt impossible to write new chapters before I had finished the edit. I am not finished, but I reached the roguish chapter 20 last week and managed to talk myself into a bit of a compromise. So,

here is chapter 43, effing finally

and a lengthy account of this editing malarky under the cut:

This is a strange one, and I’m not sure what you’re going to think about it. Will this upset you? Have I ruined something you liked? I don’t know. I just know that it’s been four years (FOUR YEARS) and I really just needed to do this. So I’m going to go through the whole process with you here, to catch you up on why and what, and where.

(If you’re not interested in these changes, or in reading my rambling explanation, please have this PDF of NTW chapters 1-42, unedited.)

So. 

Why!

I have been writing this story for a long time, and I was in a very different place when I started it. I’m hopefully better at writing, now, and I have a slightly different approach to how I write. Every time someone commented that they just started reading NTW, I would feel really awkward about it, because I knew there were specific weak points in the first half that I wish I had managed better when I wrote them. So I decided to go back and edit a little, no big deal, right? Well.

I ended up doing a little bit more than just correcting typos, and I realise that this might feel like a bad thing to some of you who care about this story, and have been reading it almost as long as I have been writing it.

What??

Not everything has changed, I promise. The story is still the same, and I have tried my best to keep the bottom line the same for each and every scene that have in some way been adjusted. The edits can be divided into three levels, in order of severity.

Level one: tone consistency

Little things you hopefully won’t notice. Trying to get the first half to stylistically better match the second half. I can’t promise it’s better, but it’s different and oh dang… I hope it’s better.

Level two: alternative routes

More noticeable changes which still remain faithful to what they used to be. 

Example! In chapter 7, Ian and Mickey talk about coffee. Ian makes a pointless reference to Clueless, because 2015 me thought it would be funny. 2019 me would still make that pointless reference to Clueless, cling to it for a minute, and then admit to myself that it isn’t particularly funny and definitely isn’t in character, and then rewrite the scene. So I rewrote the scene. They still talk about coffee, all the main points are still there, but this time it makes some god damned sense.

Level three: DEMOLITION SCHEDULED TO MAKE WAY FOR AN INTERGALACTIC EXPRESSWAY

Substantial changes and additions. 

Example! In chapter 16, I originally wasted some 1000 words ranting about Halloween before getting to the point. Why? Because 2015 me had thoughts about Halloween and figured what the heck, Mickey can have those thoughts too, that makes sense. Guess what, 2015 me? It didn’t! But the point of that section was never supposed to be “Mickey hates Halloween, here’s why”, but “Mickey is grumpy because his son chose to spend Halloween with his mom for the first time in ten years and it sucks”... which did not come across super clearly, all muddled up in me projecting my own thoughts on the poor guy. This has been rewritten to better reflect what I wanted to say with that section, and also include more Yev and better introduce Mickey’s friendship with Sonya. It’s more in character, it’s more fun to read (I hope) and it makes some god damned sense.

We also have a couple of pure additions, such as the second half of the infamously incomplete chapter 20, and little bits here and there.

WHERE?

Here’s a list for reference.

Chapter 1: edited (level 1)

Chapter 2: edited (level 1)

Chapter 3: edited (level 3), slight addition/change

Chapter 4: edited (level 3), slight addition/change

Chapter 5: edited (level 1)

Chapter 6: edited (level 2), slight alteration in dialogue

Chapter 7: edited (level 2), slight alteration in dialogue

Chapter 8: edited (level 3), pretty hefty edit, but no real addition

Chapter 9: edited (level 3), added dialogue in the beginning, minor changes throughout

Chapter 10: edited (level 2), slight alteration in dialogue

Chapter 11: edited (level 1)

Chapter 12: edited (level 2), slight alteration in dialogue

Chapter 13: edited (level 1)

Chapter 14: edited (level 1)

Chapter 15: edited (level 2), mostly just a level 1 edit, but I think I added a paragraph at the end that wasn’t there before

Chapter 16: edited (level 3), the start has been rewritten, large bit has been added, the rest has been heavily edited/rewritten

Chapter 17: edited (level 3), a few smaller additions throughout, pretty heavily edited

Chapter 18: edited (level 2), some heavier edits, mostly bits and bobs

Chapter 19: edited (level 2), pretty heavily edited, but no major changes. Except one, concerning Monica’s death (mentioned). Let me know if you want me to elaborate on why I made this change (or any change, of course).

Chapter 20: edited (level 3) FINALLY ADDED THE SECOND HALF. It’s nothing special, but IT’S THERE NOW OMG I’VE BEEN SO ANNOYED BY THIS FOR SO LONG. Also edited.

(Chapters 21-40 to come.)

And here’s the thing. I think the story is a lot better now, but I 100% understand if you don’t feel the same way. I needed to rewrite the version of it which is published online under my pen name, so I changed it. But! That doesn’t mean you have to read it. Here’s the link to that PDF again. Let me know if the link ever stops working, and I’ll fix it.

Lastly. I want to thank you (YOU) for letting me grow and get better, in my own time. Editing the first twenty chapters was a painful experience for me, they were incredibly uneven and occasionally mortifying. But I thought they were fantastic when I wrote them, and first put them up on AO3, and not one person told me a single discouraging thing about my poor grammar, sloppy spelling, or contrived references. And that means something.

I deal with a lot of “constructive feedback” in my actual work, and I know the value of it. But there is also something so uniquely wonderful about allowing someone to grow at their own pace, purely by encouraging them to keep going and do what they love, exactly the way they want to do it.

I would hope I am a more refined writer now than I was four years ago, but I wouldn’t be writing at all if I hadn’t dared to start somewhere and received the encouragement I needed to continue. So download the pdf and enjoy my humble beginnings, or come with me and enjoy a whole host of new typos in the freshly edited NTW universe. But whatever you do, please know that I remember and appreciate every click, kudos, and kind word you’ve ever said to me on the way. Thank you.

(If you have any questions about any of this, general or specific, please ask me!)