#faerun squad

[orbees]

Our dnd squad has been playing for years so we needed a Scientific Means of evaluating our campaigns.

Unpictured: the divorce z-axis

[lil-biscuits]

A typical day in Sword Coast--

Astarion putting the moves on our resident Bear(Halsin) while Gale has to deal with my Tav sorceror's superpower of occasionally bursting into flames(and sometimes turning into a sheep).

[mouthymercx0x0]

IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT DEADPOOL WOULD NOT FIGHT FOR EVERY SINGLE BALDUR GATE 3 CHARATCER IN THE CAMP. YOU SIMPLY WRONG AND HE WOULD. <3

[plinchy]

The Goyls drawn as that one supernatural x barbie meme

[coyotejone-s]

peesting these guys here... for later >:]

[nemo-in-wonderland]

"There was a drifter passing through that little valley She had promised she was coming back to town (Coming back to town) They didn't know her by her face Or by the gun around her waist But she came back to burn that town to the ground First there was fire Then there was smoke Then the preacher man was hanging by a rope And then they all fell to their knees And begged that drifter, begged her please As she raised her fist before she spoke I am the righteous hand of God And I am the devil that you forgot And I told you one day you will see that I'll be back, I guarantee And that hell's coming, hell's coming Hell, hell's coming with me"

"Hell's Comin' with Me (Poor Man's Poison)"-Cover by Annapantsu

Hello Hello everyone <3

Allow me to share this small reference artwork that I did for Aranea and her own appearance during her century spent in Cania with Mephistopheles!

I liked to imagine that, in order to fulfill her part of the bargain with Mephisto, she would pick upon herself to literally harvest souls for him around Faerun, indiscrimately, in exchange for the unlimited powers that he provided her with (I like to imagine that Aranea is a sort of mix between Thanatos/Persephone to Mephisto!Hades, so to speak). It was fun to use as a reference my first artwork of her, and show how her descent into darkness would also reflect in the way she carries herself, while still holding some elements from her "previous" life above ground.

Also, that necklace that she carries around her way it's, infact, a shard of her own frozen heart, a shard that contain the only emotion that she allowed herself to carry and feel (plus, Mephisto would actually grow quite possesive of that heart, in time, so chances that she would get it back are slim lolol).

Well, that being said, I hope you will like this <3 Cannot wait to share more about Aranea and Mephisto and the Infernal Squad lolol <3 <3

--Nemo

[plumadot]

Hi hello Pluma 👋🏿

Hope you're doing well!

Got a little bit of a brainstorm for your dnd guys

Big squad is just traveling, or do they have some kind of goal? And – why are they all together?

Is there some particular world building you wanted to introduce, or mb it's just normal Faerun? I really like weird twists, like, then everything is flooded, orrrr maybe then there's no sun in this world! Or they have several moons... Just an idea to think about! :D

I also was thinking of spiderchair a lot-

Just imagine Scar running on the walls and ceilings cuz. Spider chair!!!

And I think Scar is often bored, then they are traveling on foot (he's too active fella to just sit and watch) – mb he has some kind of a hobby to keep his hands busy? Flute is cool and all, but the guy is VERY chatty, (what's why tbh I'm kinda sad he plays flute, no beautiful singing D:) and yea. I was thinking it might be wood carving, bit it's kinda doesn't fit him... Oh, I know! Mb magic tricks ?? I dunno, what do you think? :D

Oh and probably G is often complaining how tired he is from walking on foot... Is there on a chair somewhere a perch for him, or he's just unceremoniously sits on Scar's lap? :DD (Well they still can have horses but. Every horse would despise Grian u'all know that)

Yep... they are definitely The Wanted Criminals... Silly fellas QwQ

hi!!!!! :D <3 <3 <3

they do!! they eh. it's. again it's bits and pieces for now i hope you don't mind gkjdfkgjf. they kinda all have their own goals but they overlap more or less... they're all looking for a certain artefact, even ren's squad is :D i'll try to explain or draw stuff about it once i have all backstories linked up with it and can actually find the words to make it sound plausible LMAO

i'm not sure if i want the world to be very different from "standard" faerûn gfdkgjkfd i like the idea of multiple moons simply for the aesthetic :D and mmmm what's important is that gods are pretty close to mortals and even interfere every now and then. and i suppose the place they're in is coastal, since there's a lot of characters have some kind of connection to the ocean :D

scar is strapped into his spider chair so it should definitely be able to walk on walls!!!! idc if that's overpowered the chair is a magic item ok he gets to have a cool chair!!!!!!!

also yes yes he definitely plays music and doodles a lot!!! :D ohhhh you're right about the singing gfdkjgkjdf maybe i'll also give him a string instrument as a treat :D I'M NOT PICKING FAVOURITES I JUST. YOU KNOW

grian can definitely perch on the chair. and he will. he likes feeling tall :) he uses his flight to scout ahead but it's so very tiring... let him on the chair scar pls...

HFDJKGJDFG i'm so sorry if the things i say about this au make no sense or don't connect or kgfjdkjg i'm not good at this. but i really liked your questions and ideas!!!!!!!!!! ;-;

[rissi-chan]

Get to know your Tav

My favorite "Tav," Neri whose file i have played through almost twice now. She is based off of my Kalashtar Runechild Sorcerer from our Curse of Strahd Campaign

Neri (she/her) | No last name/No memory of a last name | Half Drow | Wild Magic Sorcerer | Dark Urge (Redemption Path)

(Yes she runs around Faerun topless)

What is your Tav’s…

favorite weapon: She carries a staff, but prefers to use her hands for spells—the connection to her magic feels stronger that way

style of combat: Cautious and precise, unless there is an immediate threat to one of her companions—all bets are off if the squad's lives are on the line.

most prized possession: While she likes to collect things, she tries not to place too much sentimental value on objects. At the end of the day the memories that are tied to the objects are what she cherishes above all else.

deepest desire: Contentment. Peace. Happiness.

guilty pleasure: Baths. She LOVES bathing and will take any opportunity to sink into a hot, bubbly bath or fresh spring.

best-kept secret: I would say killing Quill, but that seems more like an open secret.

greatest strength: Her mastery over her self. She is a Haunted One, after all. A child of Bhaal, murder incarnate, etc. But her own true nature always shines through.

fatal flaw: Literal child of Bhaal. Also she's a bit reserved to be placed in a leadership role, but she handles confrontations calmly and charismatically.

favorite smell: Incense—sandalwood and jasmine specifically—and gardens just after rain.

favorite spell or cantrip: Shatter, for sure. She loves the rumbling deep in her chest, up the back of her neck and spreads through her skull when she casts it.

pet peeve: Not being heard. She may not be the most talkative person, but when she says she has disturbing urges it's imperative that she's taken seriously.

bad habit: Like most Tavs, she is a packrat bordering on hoarder. She is definitely the type to collect useless but adorable trinkets, figures, and knickknacks only to realize she has far too little strength to carry them all in her overstuffed pack.

hidden talent: Since she is based on my Kalashtar, she also has a deep intuition/empathy/compassion for other people—which is very much in conflict with the Dark Urge—and a strong connection to the plane of dreams (though the only dreams she has herself are nightmares inflicted by Bhaal).

leisure activity: She definitely does some form of meditative stretching, like yoga (whatever the Faerunian equivalent would be). It relaxes her body and mind and keeps her reflexes sharp.

favorite drink: Upon waking up from her brain scramble and joining with her companions, she comes to realize that she loves tea. Something lightly floral, with a drop of cream. Hot and calming. Gale brews it the best, of course.

comfort food: Something similar to kitsune udon (whatever the Faerunian equivalent would be). Warm, comforting, filling, umami . . . She definitely slurps her noodles.

favorite person: Gale. After waking up on the nautiloid, her magic was the only part of her she wanted to embrace, and Gale being a lover and user of magic himself, she instantly lit up upon meeting him.

favored display of affection: Sincere words, coupled with intense eye contact and soft touches. When Gale says "I love you" while staring into her eyes and brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, she could honestly dissolve on the spot and her wild magic might make that possible

fondest childhood memory: None. Bhaal consumed her childhood, and she is thankful for her memory loss.

[greyias]

@thievinghippo replied to your post “Today on Gale Squad's Adventures:”:

what mod is Ari's armor? I love that!

It's from Triss's Wardrobe! I forget exactly which dye it wound up being, but I want to say either one of the Fashionable Faerun ones? I added one of the cloaks from the More Mage Gears, just to give it a little extra flair.

[cake-apostate]

Revisiting the Prologue of Baldur's Gate III

I was thinking about the start of the game again, and how strange it is that the Nautiloid attacked the city so blatantly in broad daylight. From the reports we get in Baldur's Gate, people were abducted stealthily at night and reappeared shortly afterwards, so why was the city of Yartar different?

And where were the origin companions immediately before the game, and what were they doing?

I think the order of events was something like:

Lae'zel's squad attacked some Illithid outpost or perhaps the Nautiloid itself, but they were imprisoned on the Nautiloid instead. They did not know that the Astral Prism was stolen.

The Nautiloid then was sent to Baldur's Gate to abduct people by night, which was how Astarion was kidnapped. Before dawn broke, it returned to the Astral Plane to remain on standby.

The opening cutscene took place the next day. The Nautiloid attacked Yartar for reasons I will explain under the cut. I read a theory that Gale was abducted in Yartar, and that he was traveling to the most remote reaches of Faerun to explode away from everyone else.

Wyll and Karlach tell you that they boarded the Nautiloid midflight in Avernus.

So what about Shadowheart? Spoilers for the local MacGuffin football, aka the Artifact.

I think that she was not only in Yartar, but she was the reason the Nautiloid attacked at all. Why did the Nautiloid expose itself in broad daylight to kidnap everyone in sight? It was a desperate assault to find the Astral Prism, consequences be damned.

While we're vague on the specifics, we know that the Astral Prism was originally in Githyanki hands, that the Absolute stole it with a Nautiloid piloted by the Emperor, and then Shadowheart's team stole it before they could deliver it to their leaders.

My guess is that the Absolute cultists succeeded in bringing the artifact back to the material plane, but lost the Nautiloid and the Emperor in the process. On the way back to Baldur's Gate, the Sharrans ambushed them, and everyone died except for Shadowheart. Shart then fled to Yarta with the intention of taking the first caravan back. The Absolute then sent the nearest off-duty Nautiloid, and the rest is history.

[piratemousey]

Hymn on the Wind

Tav x Gale

Tav = Asmodious Tiefling Bard she/her

Spoilers act 2

Warning ⚠️: mention of that b Mystra

Part 1

Strategizing Symphonies

Tav's lute sat in her lap. She plucked at the strings, trying to find a melody to latch onto or a turn of phrase to carry the chorus. However, Tav's mind was distracted. She again found herself with her eyes settled on the wizard.

The companions were on their second night at the Last Light Inn. Since their bonds grew in the Underdark, they'd taken to calling themselves different nicknames such as "the worm squad", or "the doomed ones" depending on group moral.

Jaheira let them make camp on the beach along the edge of the moonsheild. It was decent accommodations, better than camping among the shadows.

Tav watched as Gale hustled between a cutting board, a sauce on the fire he was trying not to burn, all while chatting with Wyll who kept attempting to help Gale cook dinner.

"Chk"

The sound rattled Tav's bones. She'd heard the sound often. Whenever they've had to tell Lae'zel to stay at camp or when Tav wouldn't let Lae'zel interrogate a tiefling in the grove. Anytime Lae'zel was displeased.

"I do not care for the music of this Faerun. What do you people have to be so cheerful about? However, this current strumming is driving me to distraction and bringing up memories of hard nights training in the creche, night where I was a failure."

"Sorry, Lae'zel…" when Tav looked up Karlach, Lae'zel, and Astarion stood over Tav. "What's going on?"

"You're obviously having a hard time because of old cheese breath's visit." Karlach said, hooking a thumb toward the campfire. That's where Elminster told Gale that he had to blow himself up. While Tav was shocked, Gale seemed to fold inward, taking the request from Mystra as inevitable and reasonable.

Tav set her eyes back down on her lute. "I just need some time, folks. It's been three hours."

"And what's Gale said? Have you talked about it?" Karlach sat on the ground in front of Tav.

"I told you all I can tell you," Tav said she plucked the last two strings.

"Bloody hells, what are you doing?" Astarion asked in a disgruntled growl. Astarion looked away as all eyes turned to him.

"Why are you here, Astarion?" Tav asked. "You can hear all the juicy details from your tent down the beach."

"I'm here because, as much as we all hate it, our fate is tied to the large eyed wizard and the bard who seems to be taken with him. Although, they both had better offers."

"T'Chk," Lae'zel clicked. "You, Astarion, and the red one may gossip when I've gone, Tav. All I need to know is that you will snuff this foolishness and get us to the creche. It is only a days walk and now we are enmeshed with these Harper's and their stragglers."

"Lae'zel, those were the people we saved at the grove," Karlach said, disbelieving.

"Perhaps they should have stayed in our company, they were not well guarded enough for such a journey." Lae'zel said.

"I should have talked to more of them at the grove. I should have encouraged them. I'm a teifling." Tav said, her voice strained. "How could I help Gale? He's wanted Mystra's forgiveness more than anything. He'll die for it. We all know it."

"Tav, tell me you'll leave for the creche, and stop Gale from being a fool?" Lae'zel asked. She added the last part quietly as if admiting she cared about Gale was uncomfortable.

Tav swallowed hard. She pushed some of her anguish away. Her people needed her reassurance. Astarion was right. Their fates were tied to one another. They'd done this to themselves by caring for each other.

"I'll do my best," Tav said.

"Good," Lae'zel walked away. She went to her wet stone and began sharpening the group's weapons.

"She's just being Lae'zel," Karlach said, tapping Tav's knee.

"I know, she's fine," Tav said. She slid her lute off her lap. "She's not wrong. We have to talk about it more. I just can't imagine how hard it is for him. He probably wants space to think. This is a huge thing." Tav said. She tilted her head as she looked past her companions. "He's cooking with Wyll and smiling. Let him do that while he can."

"You're entirely too soft on that man," Astarion grumbled looking down at his nails. He spoke as if he didn't want anyone to know he was talking to them. "You need to grab him in soft places until he begs and then tell him the last thing he's going to do is blow himself up." Astarion mimicked a squeezing motion.

"Gale doesn't seem the S & M type," Karlach said.

"All wizards are into S & M, once you show them they are," Astarion smirked.

"I agree it's best to be direct," Tav said. She'd learned to read between Astarion's crafted lines. "I don't think Gale should have to die for the Absolute or Mystra's forgiveness. At that point what are our lives worth if a God can just wind us up and send us into a crowd?" Tav's voice grew angrier as she continued talking.

"At that point you could just send me off to die to save a disarm kit," Astarion waved his hand, literally fanning the flames.

"We've only survived this long by staying together and protecting each other," Tav said.

"Gale protects us all the time," Karlach said.

"As long as it doesn't involve sneaking," Astarion added with a bob of his head.

"Why would we have Gale sneak, we have you to sneak." Tav said with a warm smile.

"You're too sweet," Astarion said, pleased. He drifted over to Shadowheart's tent, no doubt to share the news and burn incense.

"My gods, flattery is like a charm Astarion spell." Karlach said.

"There's no one like him," Tav said. She set her hand on her chin with a sigh. Her eyes found her way to her lute.

"You can play," Karlach said. "I think Lae'zel complaining was her way of broaching the subject."

"That sounds about right," Tav said.

"What are you working on?" Karlach leaned over, lifting the pages.

"I found this jewelry box in the house of healing today," Tav said. "Right after we found your metal."

Karlach hit her hand with a fist. "Strong as eva."

"I thought I could use the music and write a song for Gale," Tav said. "I thought it might help show him, you know, he's not alone. He has us, he doesn't need Mystra in his life so dominant. He can cast magic, but don't give her your life."

"You can say that to him," Karlach said. "Or you could tell him you love him."

"Karlach," Tav flicked her tail.

Karlach glanced behind herself to the fire where Gale and Wyll cooked. Gale was stirring something while Wyll tasted it.

"He can't hear me," Karlach said.

"Gale and I had a few moments," Tav said. "But, I don't think he's in a place where he wants more than friendship."

"He said very loudly in front of us that the battle made him hot," Karlach said. "It made me hot too, but he wasn't looking at me."

"It's too much pressure," Tav said. She picked up the lute, holding it on her lap. "I wouldn't be any better than Mystra."

"You absolutely can't believe that," Karlach said, waving at Tav dismissively.

"I'll work on the song," Tav said. "It's all I can do, it helps me think." She didn't think she was like Mystra. Mystra was all powerful goddess. She was magic. But, Tav did have her gift for music.

"I'll leave you to it, but let me know if you need a drink later." Karlach said.

"I will need a drink later," Tav said. The two friends laughed together.

Karlach sauntered away, her tail wagging lazily. She stopped at the campfire, crossing her arms as she talked to the others, her laugh booming.

The heart repairs that Dammon helped Karlach with gave her energy and a boost to morale.

Tav crawled further in her tent, taking her lute, the music box, and her composing paper. She played the music box as she followed along practicing the hand positions on the lute. It didn't take long for her to learn while writing it down, and making a few changes.

Tav built a short tune. She didn't want a long ballad. She wanted something simple and to the point.

Gale loved art, he loved Tav's music. She was certain that if she put her heart into it he'd understand her art and how much she cared about him.

When a sound outside of Tav's tent drew her attention she stopped playing.

"I'm sorry," Gale's voice found her. "There's obviously no bell to ring or door to knock on so I was just standing here."

"You can come in," Tav said. She pushed the music box under her blanket.

"It was a beautiful melody," Gale said. He crawled into the tent, his eyes finding Tav. A smile spread over Gale's face, his eyes alight. "I'd hate to disturb your creative process, but dinner's ready."

"Thank you," Tav said. Her heart grew warm with Gale so near. Her tadpole squirmed. "I'm glad you like the song."

"If you need more time that's fine, but I suggest you take this meal hot considering the lack of warmth among these shadows." Gale explained.

"I'll be right there," Tav said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Gale's voice was warm. He backed out of the tent.

Tav fell back against her bed. She took a pillow and put it over her face. Tav let out a scream. The scream wasn't even close to a loud scream, but she needed the release. Tav didn't want to be a bard stereotype, but she'd never waited so long to kiss someone, to pull them on top of her and wrap her tail around them.

Gale's smile drove her crazy, and his eyes melted her. She would hurry every morning to find him. He'd be outside his tent neatening his beard or at the small library they kept under the blue tent. She was excited to see him, and she knew he liked her too. But Gale was hurt. He didn't want to trust. He didn't think anyone would want him if Mystra didn't. Tav was certain that part of him didn't want to connect with someone else. He thought Mystra's request was the easy route out of his pain

Tav left her lute and music behind as she joined the others. She worked on the song in her head, even as she sat and enjoyed the cottage pot pie Gale and Wyll whipped up. It sat between the seven of them in a rectangular dish they'd stolen from some cultists' kitchen. The top crust of the pie had scorch marks from a blast of fire.

"I may have overdone the top," Gale said. He smiled at Tav, a self-deprecating smile. He was being hard on himself. Gale moved on, and immediately swung into a conversation about calimshite emulsions which was met with varying degrees of interest.

"It looks great," Tav said, grabbing the serving spoon. Tav rocked back and forth on her knees, singing what she called "The Scooping Song".

"The Scooping Song,

The Scooping Song,

I love to sing my Scooping Song.

I stole the spoon from a tower,

A tower that ran on flower power."

It usually garnered some boos and some laughs from the group, but tonight, no one said anything. Those who thought it was funny laughed, and those who disliked it were quiet.

Gale laughed and shook his head at Tav's silliness. Which only encouraged Tav.

Tav thought again of the song for Gale. She needed the right words to let Gale know his worth was more than the bomb in his chest.

[glitterdustcyclops]

so in my current playthrough (nellie the tiny pink chaos machine) i've been primarily traveling with a party of karlach, shadowheart, & lae'zel because hashtag feminism

and there's something very amusing to me about it basically being this squad of badass warrior ladies kicking ass all over faerun while the boys stay home at camp, gossiping and taking bets on how long until shadowheart & lae'zel give in and start fucking

[dragonaqe]

rules: go on pinterest and share the first celeb, outfit, quotes, and aesthetic that appears on your dash

tagged by @dekarios, @envergothash, and @not-so-blue THANK U SQUAD!!!!! who knew i would have to scroll for a million years to find a quote and a celebrity AHAJDKDJSJ

tagging @malefiicarum @faerune @dameayliins and anybody else who would like to do this !! idk who has been tagged and who hasn’t 🥸

[blackjackkent]

Doing some meta pondering on character arcs for future chapters of "Open Your Eyes and It Will Blind You" (x) while waiting for the dye to set in my hair at the salon.

(I find I feel weirdly embarrassed talking about this fic; the fact that Jaheira/Rasaad did not exist at ALL on AO3 as a pairing threw me for a loop and has convinced my brain that I am being Self-Indulgent and Weird despite the fact that literally all fic is Self-Indulgent and Weird and that is why we love it. XD So I am trying to push myself past that and allow myself to be excited about the thing regardless. #personalgrowth That said, this really is just me thinking out loud so feel free to ignore, lol.)

As I said to Springy when she was helping me beta the first chapter - one of the big challenges I'm encountering with this fic is that I think Jaheira and Rasaad would be good being together post-BG2, but writing/plotting them getting together is a little like pulling teeth - they are both people with very strong emotions who have lost much, but they are also both reserved as hell about actually sharing/showing/indulging those feelings visibly.

I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the romance dialogue both of them have with the PC in BG2, but it was no help because BOTH of them have a romance arc centered around the question "Oh gods, what am I doing, what if this is a mistake" and all of the conversations are "[has a feeling] [immediately backpedals]" until the PC basically has to whack them upside the head with their intentions. And Khalid says in Siege of Dragonspear that his original courtship of Jaheira back in the Harpers consisted of him slamming through a hospital door and pouring his heart out to her while she was injured and couldn't hide from the Feels, and it turned out she'd already been sitting on the same feelings for months. XD

So - the question becomes how two people who are BOTH that reticent about their emotions manage to get past it and reach an understanding.

My intention is that the next chapter will make clear that the feelings are there (probably helped on by some Avariel wine at Quayle's birthday party), which will spook both of them, with Rasaad's response being "time to run back to Calimshan, face the music, and die" (kicking off the actual plot as the squad demands to come along with him), because healthy coping mechanisms are a foreign concept in Faerun.

So they will both be sitting with that awareness from pretty early in the story, hopefully leaning into one of my favorite tropes: "The feelings are actually requited, they're both just dumbasses." But as for the actual incident that pushes them to acknowledge those feelings...hm.

Fundamentally, I see both of their character arcs in this story, even before the romance, as being about looking forward vs looking back. Jaheira feels stagnated with no battles left to fight and Rasaad is trapped by his regret over what the monks half a world a way think of him. Ultimately Rasaad's epiphany in going back to Calimshan is not that he is forgiven by the monks there (for something he didn't even do), but realizing that he does not need their approval because he has grown beyond who he was when he lived there and has people who truly care about him and know him. Jaheira's is a little more nebulous, but I see it as building off of Caden's comment in the first chapter that sometimes simply living is enough - that a grand purpose is not always required to live a worthwhile life (this is a topic I've been thinking about a lot in the context of my own life lately and feels like a worthwhile theme to explore).

(Obviously Jaheira is eventually going to get drawn back to Baldur's Gate and a life of purpose in the war against the Absolute, and based on her BG3 dialogue it's clear that she's regressed a bit in this regard from any progress she might make with Rasaad. XD But I don't think that negates the possibility of her being able to have some happiness for a while.)

However... I think I want any romance development to be independent of these epiphanies, because "I have realized I have something to live for because you exist" is a perfectly satisfying trope but feels like a lessening of these characters in this scenario. "I have realized I have life ahead of me, and consequently but unrelatedly am opening myself to you" has more appropriate depth, I think.

Honestly, there are two existing moments in BG2 that feel like they might make sense to build from that I might end up adapting into the fic...

First is a moment from Jaheira's in-game romance. She wakes from a dream where Khalid was watching her but she was unable to reach him; the PC can comment that perhaps Khalid is happy to see that she still has people to travel with and isn't alone, and she says something to the effect of "it wasnt the whole group, it was just you and me. But I think you may be right." It's actually a really sweet little moment, one of the more emotionally resonant bits of the romance line.

The other moment is a bit of banter between Rasaad and Aerie if neither of them are romanced. They're chatting and she makes some subtle comments about wanting to spend more time with him, and it goes completely over his head. The PC then had the chance to chime in and tease him about missing her signals. ("you have no idea what's going on here, do you"). Given the characters involved in this fic, it might make sense for Caden to get involved in playing matchmaker a bit in the late story after the feelings have been stewing for a while.

Anyway... again, mostly thinking out loud but I want to make sure my thoughts are in order. I'm not used to writing multi-chapter fics and it's a very unique challenge trying to make sure the emotional through-line is set up at the beginning and carries through to the end.

[hoothootmotherf-ckers]

all the daemons in the daemon au

Alright. If you have not read my TAZ daemon au the stars are alive, this is not gonna make any goddamn sense. Also, major spoilers ahead.

That being said, here's a breakdown of why I gave characters the daemons I did, because I put way too much thought into this.

Fair warning, it is going to be abundantly clear that I put way more effort into some of these than others. Also damn, I started this five fucking years ago and my writing and interpretation of TAZ have definitely developed since then.

Okay, let's get into it.

Obviously, I made all the IPRE squad birds. How could I not. It's the thing. I saw seven birds, and all that. But oh my god did I put so much effort into which birds.

Merle was the easiest and the hardest, because he has a bird associated with him in canon. He has the owl mask! He's the owl guy! Great. There's more than 200 species of owls. All of them work with the wisdom symbolism that's a really vital part of his character, but I gave him a barn owl for a very specific reason.

Barn owls are weird. So most owls are in the family Strigidae, literally called the typical owls. When you think of owls, great horned and screech and burrowing and the like, 255 of them fall into this broad category. But not barn owls. There are twenty species of owl that are not Strigidae, and that's the family Tytonidae. They're still owls, but they have pretty significant biological differences and that shows in a couple interesting ways, like how barn owls can just kinda unhinge their whole faces and scream. Cool as hell birds.

And that's Merle, right? He's a dwarf, he has his family in Faerun, but he doesn't fit in. He's an outsider - not necessarily visibly, but he is in many ways isolated within his own community. I wanted to draw on that as a defining character trait, along with the wisdom thing. And also barn owls are neat.

Magnus has a Harris’s hawk and you can fully blame Planet Earth II for this. No really, go watch the Harris's hawk clip, it's so cool! But anyway. Magnus's thing is protecting others, and more specifically covered in the Raven's Roost rebellion, and really blatantly illuminated in the conversation with the Power Bear - basically this man keeps rushing in but he is strongest when he's fighting with his friends. Harris's hawks are one of the only birds of prey that will hunt in packs. They collaboratively work to chase down prey in the desert - seriously, watch the episode, it’s amazing!

Taako and Lup's daemons come as a matched set, because I wanted to highlight how they go about the same goal in very different ways. Killdeers and northern goshawks are both known for their very distinctive methods of protecting their nests. Killdeers do what's called the broken wing act - when a predator approaches their nest, they fake a broken wing and do their best to bait the predator away from their nest. And then when they're far enough away they just fly off, because it was an act. That's Taako - acting, manipulating, looking like the easy target until he's not, it was a trick, gotcha, sucker. That's how he protects himself, his family, in general what's his.

Northern goshawks take a different approach to nest protection. They are very well known for being aggressive as fuck. Forget deception, they have talons and will just attack anything or anyone who gets too close to their nest. This is a bit over-simplistic, but also Lup did just go full on firestorm at Edward so like. It makes sense.

So the obvious reason for why Davenport has a hummingbird is that they’re very little and very fast flyers. Which is true, and definitely something I considered. But more importantly, hummingbirds get angry. I’m not great at writing Davenport multidimensionally, but his sin from the Judges was wrath. Hummingbirds are territorial, and they will legitimately attack humans despite being like the mass of a ping pong ball. I have been cussed out by hummingbirds so many times, there’s a bunch of flowering native plants in my yard back home and those little guys get pissed.

Lucretia has a loon for a couple reasons, some of which I only figured out after I made that decision. One is that the call of a loon is used in film to signify loneliness. It's that bird sound you hear in like scenes where people have been abandoned in the wilderness. And she's the lonely journal-keeper.

Also uh. Loons apparently can't walk on dry land? Which works well for me in terms of more of the out of place/loneliness themes she's got going, but not so well for all the scenes where I wrote him walking around.

Okay. So Barry’s bowerbird daemon is one I’ve had from the beginning, and it like 90% started as a really stupid joke. I’m just… I’m gonna insert the instigating video here. Listen. He’s The Lover. That’s his defining characteristic. And his name is Bluejeans. I could probably make this a more solid reason but nope. Watch the video. Listen, sometimes TAZ is choose joy, and sometimes it's fighting weeds on floor 20.

Onto the rest!

John’s daemon is actually the very last one I came up with, and part of the reason that it took me so long to write the latter half of this fic. There were a couple things I had in mind for him. First, I have this tendency of giving bird daemons to characters important to the seven birds. That’s why Angus has a crow, which I’ll get to in a minute. So I wanted to give John a bird too. And then I had to figure out what specific trait of John’s I wanted to use for my convoluted bird symbolism. I didn’t really want to use anything super aggressive or like evil vibes, because that’s the Hunger but that’s not John. I thought about mockingbirds, or lyrebirds, or parrots, because John is a public speaker, he uses his words to do what he does. But I eventually settled on a sociable weaver, because John’s thing is community. Sociable weavers are cooperative nest builders. By which I mean hundreds of them can work together to build an absolutely massive complex nest meters across that they all live in. That's John.

She did have a name. John just doesn’t remember it. 

So another thing with daemons is that they don’t have a set form until their human reaches puberty, -ish. Which quite honestly I forgot for the first few chapters of this fic, whoops. But Angus’s daemon is usually a crow, because corvids are wonderful. Again, it’s the bird parallel thing, but crows are clever. They’re problem solvers, they’re creative, they’re incredibly smart birds despite their fairly unassuming appearances. 

Also, her name is Chirrim, which is my brand of fantasy bastardization of the name of my good friend Charm as a nod to one of her very good fics. Who did not know this, so hey Charm, guess what?

None of the other names mean anything, they’re all just words and a mash of syllables I thought sounded good!

Carey and Killian: Iguana and boar. Yeah, not a lot of thought put into that one. I only got really hardcore into the symbolism a few chapters in, so they took a bit of a hit from that. Similarly, Sazed and a fox - yeah, what a unique idea. 

Lucas: So Capuchin monkeys are the most intelligent new world monkeys, they’re clever and they’re good with tools. They’re also used in laboratory experimentation, which eeeeehhh but good for this. They can also be trained as service animals, fun fact! But beyond the scientist/monkey thing, I wanted Lucas to have a monkey to parallel Mrs. Coulter, who in the books is the one responsible for the machine Lucas created and who has a daemon referred to as the Golden Monkey. 

Jack, June, Isaak, Cassidy: I wanted to go with the desert aesthetic, I think everyone in Refuge has a daemon that’s native to or common in the American Southwest. Jack’s jackrabbit is a slight nod to Hester, one of my favorite characters in HDM. June’s gila monster is one of the only venomous lizards - she may be little, but she can do some damage. Isaak’s rattlesnake… I mean, again, not subtle. And for Cassidy, mules are known for being stubborn. 

Ren: Still the desert theme, but also nocturnal for the good good drow parallels. Incidentally, apparently my interpretation of drow appearances is completely non-canon - I always imagine Ren with medium-toned grey skin and black hair. Pallid bats are white, and I wanted nice contrast with her hair. 

Roswell: Okay Roswell is strange, because they are their own daemon. Yeah. So in the books, there are armored polar bears, or panserbjørne. They don’t have daemons. Instead, they have armor they make themselves out of meteoric iron, which kind of serves the same purpose, but is not exactly a daemon. More on that later. So no, Roswell in this fic isn’t exactly an armored clay being with a bird daemon; Roswell is a bird with an armored clay sort-of-daemon. I'm proud of this one.

Paloma: Paloma has a dragonfly for a few reasons. I wanted something that could fly, to parallel the seven birds and the witches in the books. It also needed to be something small - not having a daemon is wrong to most people, so if you’re like our main cast and could send your daemon far away, you’d get at best some extremely weird looks. But if you have a little daemon, like an insect, then you can easily let people assume that whenever they can’t see your daemon, it’s still there, it’s just in a pocket or something. Also, I liked dragonflies for Paloma because their big eyes and wings look crystalline. 

Johann: He has a cricket, because it’s little, it’s unassuming, but it’s musical. Also, mechanically, crickets make their music by rubbing their wings or legs against each other to create vibrations, exactly like a bow on a violin!

Other notes! Most other daemons were one-offs and aesthetics based. The judges got an ant and a python because (I think, it was three years ago) I was going for both the hive mind/super structured society vibe of ants and the slow crushing power of a python, plus the link to prophecy. And I specifically wanted to avoid any animal symbolizing justice. because they're not just.

I never decided what Edward and Lydia's daemons were - it didn't really matter at this point in our story. But they're my other polar bear metaphors! I mentioned with Roswell that bears have armor they make themselves that's their soul, but not the same as a daemon. There's a bear in the books, illegitimate king of the panserbjørne who rules in an ice palace in the north, who thinks that the humans of Mrs. Coulter's faction can make him a proper daemon. Lyra, the protagonist, actually convinces him that she is a bear's daemon, and this is all part of a scheme to overthrow him and I am NOT doing this justice but it's one of my favorite parts of this entire book series. But everything with the liches and Lup is a DIRECT homage to Iofur Raknison and Lyra Silvertongue.

Oof. I think that's everything? I've been sitting on some of this since early 2018 and I am SO glad to finally get it out into the world.

no one needs to know this much about birds

[spyridonya]

Zophus Emberbane is a plane-touched aasimar of elven heritage who was born in Sigil, a city that was considered the 'hub' of the multiverse. Raised by his mother, an elven woman named Violette, Zophus was aware he was different from most half elves and genuinely accepted he was an aasimar as he grew older. He didn't know much about his father, though his mother told him he was very much akin to an angel with the same blue-gray eyes as Zophus. Violette assured Zophus that his father loved them very much, but he went missing before Zophus was born. Zophus was skeptical, but he loved his mother, who by all accounts of his memories and by neighbors was a good woman.

Zophus and his mother lived in the Lower Wards, the working poor to lower class section of Sigil though it was named after the many portals to the Gray Wastes, the Abyss, or to Baator (the Hells). Their home was small but neat, he had three square meals, went to school, and played with friends. Unlike those raised in the Prime Material Plane, people raised in Sigil and the Outer and Inner Planes were mostly agnostic. Zophus never needed anything, though there was many times he had to go with wanting. But he was comfortable, safe, and loved.

Until he turned ten. When he was ten, the row block he lived in caught on fire that was incredibly hard to put out by mundane means. His mother died trying to get him out of the building they lived in and the fire ended up scarring his face. The Harmonium, a faction that served as the police of Sigil, would later tell Zophus that the fire might have been caused by a portal opening to a lower plane or a fiend.

Zophus took this to heart, which grew hard in the years he was in the orphanage. When he turned 15, he was tall and lanky, and smart as a whip but prone to rage and desire for revenge. Knowing he could never get proper revenge, he turned to the Harmonium and its Law-abiding ways, even knowing the faction's dark history with elven people.

The eight weeks of training was hard, and Zophus was not as orderly as he paid lip service to, but the culture kept his temper even and he found ways to channel his aggression. He was quick to go after fiends and their allies, showing little mercy, though he kept his cool among other races within Sigil. He was an exceptional fighter with a keen wit and magnetic presence that worked in his favor in explaining himself when he wasn't the perfect Harmonium. His skills were so remarkable, that he was taught how to walk the planes and worked in several Harmonium colonies throughout the planes. His conviction of righting wrongs and protecting the weak at the cost of mercy made him infamous, marking him as one of the few paladins in the faction.

Faerun was not his first visit to the Prime Material planes, it wasn't even his 5th. Rather he was there with his squad in pursuit of a criminal who used a portal to Faerun to shake them off. During his attempt to arrest the individual, Zophus was caught by illithids - who were far more infamous than he.

Some current quirks:

Zophus ages more akin to a half elf than aasimar. Though he's 37 years old, he's still younger than his 'fellow' half elf Shadowheart. This makes him roughly in his early to mid 20s in terms of maturity.

 Zophus, like most Cagers, is very dismissive of gods. When you can go to their ruling plane on a holiday, it's hard to respect them.

He respects the Lady of Pain, the 'ruler' of Sigil who keeps powerful gods and powers of the city, and as a small boy he climbed one of the highest buildings in the Market Ward to watch her pass by, avoiding her shadow and her gaze of sight. There's a slight arrogance to him because he feels like he knows far more about existence than most Primes.

However, this poor man gets easily confused with some conventions on the Prime and has a very, very hard time with the stars and sunsets.

He's not racist to most non-fiends. Goblinkin are simply just people in Sigil, raised outside the influence of their dark gods and the circumstances that might lead them to become evil. There are exceptions to this, of course, but most mundane races are treated with the same respect.

He absolutely loses his shit when Balthazar introduces Dame Ayln as an aasimar, "You barmy son of a bitch, she's a fucking demigod. Lady's tits, an aasimar my ass. All we get is a minute to zip around with glowy wings once a day, if that. I met tieflings who have fucking wings."