#feywild west

[wall-eye]

Comm for @witchxrydnd :3 this was supposed to be a tastefully tits out drawing but then i didnt want to draw a shirt

[leasdoodles]

Dusk! (Again)

[igniting-quill]

I am giving Ula a handful of sand. Upon closer inspection, it is actually glitter

Ula: Oh what a lovely gift! Unfortunately, I only take cold hard cash as currency.

Ula: Yes I know it’s the fey wild sweet heart. If I was performing tonight, I’d glitter up my whole outfit. But glitter by itself is quite the hassle.

Ula: *Gives you a peck on the cheek to make you feel better*

[wall-eye]

ANNE!!!! This looks so good oh my GOSH!!

@wall-e-gorl ’s Anne for art fight!!!

[ludinusdaleth]

cowboy ira came for me personally and killed me btw

[psychhound]

hey yall!!! new bundle :D

this is my 14 for 14 ttrpg bundle to pay off some of the debt from my top surgery!! you get 14 games and homebrew for 14 bucks, which is gonna run until june 14th (my birthday!!)

my top surgery was absolutely life changing and has made me so much more comfortable, confident, and happy. i dont regret it in the least. i also got hit with some surprise bills afterward that have me pretty heftily in debt because of it

some very kind souls have donated their games to help me pay some of this off, which was just so incredibly generous. which means its not just my games in here!! lots and lots of cool stuff, please check it out!!

in the bundle:

ttrpgs:

[BXLLET> : a game about systems of violence and power in the weird west apocalypse

disparateum: a dream-like reality-bending game where you hop worlds and tell strange stories

little celestial fieldwork guide: a city exploration photography game where you divine hidden spirits and take photos of them

beach day!: a system agnostic party bonding minigame where characters swap gifts and secrets

what they once feared: a solo journaling game where you play a folkloric monster forced to choose your path

the narrator paradox: a one page solo game where you play a storybook narrator whos protagonist has gained agency and is trying to change the story

the fool who got married (extended): a duet epistolary game of female hardship and connection in 1848

explorers of the forever city: a rules-light, fantasy role-playing game about ordinary people making extraordinary discoveries

homebrew:

riders: a pact for moth-light by justin ford, a fitd game. tame, bond with, and ride the terrifying predator moths

witch: a class for d&d 5e. be a con-based half-caster with curses, familiars, and a whole new way of doing spell slots

harmony with the wind: a ghibli-inspired d&d 5e pack with 5 feats, 4 backgrounds, 4 races, 6 monsters, and 3 subclasses

fairytale/feywild: a pack for d&d 5e with 1 background, 2 races, 1 subclass, and unique timekeeping mechanics for the feywild

burger wizard: a d&d 5e compatible narrative rpg about working as magical kitchen staff in a fantasy restaurant

argyth's arcane companion: 4 wizard subclasses, 3 feats, and 17 new spells for d&d 5e

you can get all of this for 14 bucks until june 14th!! it would really mean a lot to me for yall to check it out and also spread the word :D

check it out on itch!!

[utilitycaster]

as someone who hasn't quite gotten into naddpod yet (i've listened to the first 4 episodes but it hasn't quite caught my interest plot/character-wise), what are your favorite naddpod moments (spoilers are fine, for me at leas i'm looking forward to experiencing those moments if/when i get to them)

I assume you mean the first campaign - it's been a minute (I'm not a big re-listener due to time commitment, and while wiki/fandom stuff plus a searchable transcript base means I am always refreshing my CR memory I can't say the same about other shows) but just as a heads up it does take them a bit to hit their stride. The Galaderon arc is when it really pops off. Basically enjoy it for being goofy and light for the first 12-ish episodes and expect it to start really hitting.

I'm trying to not be too spoiler-y still but

Meeting Ol' Cobb (Galaderon)

Rise of Thiala (end of Galaderon arc)

Pulling from the Deck of Many Things and getting Balnor (on the way to the Crick)

All of the Crick but especially going into the Elemental Chaos

The mystery elements of Frostwind are top notch; the way everyone is kind of an asshole is frustrating but it does give us "fuck you, I love you, eat a rat" so all is not lost. This is also when the party starts making jokes about Kid Cudi's Pursuit of Happiness which tickled me especially for some reason.

Entire Feywild arc is good but meeting Alanis is extremely fun and the Queen Ezra fight is one of my favorite D&D fights of all time.

DEADEYE, PLAYED BY BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN. (Shadowfell weird west is PEAK.)

Jvliin ft dubious Kiwi accent

Literally once you're in the Feywild it's all killer no filler from there actually and you probably don't need more encouragement, but meeting Mavrus, meeting Ren and by extension Murph's Snob Voice, meeting Lucanas, and STARSPAWN are the highlights

Pendergreens shows up in the Shadowfell but his stuff in the Hell arc is truly the best shit in the endgame.

Beverly and Erlin

Final combat again one of my favorite D&D fights of all time

[byler-alarmist]

#prev there’s also that song on Mike’s playlist that’s a reference to The Tempest#which is about two young lovers finding themselves stranded in the wild lush environment of the island OH

Idk why, but I have this S5 headcanon of Byler having some emotional climax, maybe in the UD, and then waking up in this lush and verdant paradise.

Like a version of the UD that's green with gold light streaming in from above the trees, where all the demo-creatures are just big flowers and the bats are like, butterflies or something. Instead of a nuclear winter- blue wasteland with mutated creatures, it's a peaceful place full of non-irradiated vegetation.

(yes, this is partially because of Byler blue + yellow and together they are the key, but also I just think it'd be so nice to see them off in their own little world for a minute where everything is safe and beautiful)

[negativeinterview]

Feywild Masquerade

An outfit I did during the hiatus for a masquerade event in the West March Frrija is in. Mixture of firefly and fungus motifs since guests were to have a theme to their outfits! Admittedly she's looking a lil like a genshin character with sheer amount of details-

[lionofstone]

Hello! Thought it was about time to write up a more formal introduction/pinned post as I want to engage more with readers and writers on Tumblr!

My name is Leandra ‘LJ’ Inglis, and I’m an independent speculative fiction author. I enjoy (both as a reader and a writer) fiction that explores concepts of friendship, trust, obsession, queer experiences, and connection to the arts through speculative elements like the fae, the multiverse, angels and demons, or sharing a body. All of my original content can be found on my website, lionofstone.com and you can get updates and behind the scenes by subscribing to my substack or joining the lionofstone discord.

BODYSHARE follows Luke Milton after he makes a deal with the devil: in exchange for a thriving musical career, he agrees to share his body. Dealing with a mutually agreed upon divorce and floundering after finishing his college degree, Luke is desperate for connection and fame. The devil offers both. Published in October 2024, this is my most recent release.

My current WIPs are referred to as PROJECT CD and PROJECT SUNSCREEN. Both are set in space—Project CD being more science fiction and Project Sunscreen being more of a space fantasy—and both involve ragtag spaceship crews inspired by pirates. You may also see various posts tagged with ‘ref’ tags (for example, ‘ref absolution’). These are ideas more than they are projects, but I like to collect things that remind me of them.

Other books and short stories are linked and summarised beneath the cut!

SERIES/NOVELS

THE SPIDER PRINCE TRILOGY: Set in fictional small town Alberta, Canada, this trilogy follows Author Wilshire, Edna Koch, and Eddie Karpinski as they make their way through faerie realms in search of curse cures. When Author Wilshire’s oldest friend, Eddie, is attacked by the Wild Hunt and transformed into a spider, Author must travel to Lockswood to reconnect with an old friend and plead for the help of the Spider Prince. It might have worked, if only the Spider Prince weren’t cursed as well. Comprising CHAOS AND THE SPIDER PRINCE, THE WITCH HAZEL TREE, SPIDER SPIDER BEE, and the short story collection GREEN QUEST AND OTHER FAERIE TALES.

SHORT STORIES

CONVERGENT: Devin has recently discovered the multiverse is real and has spent the last 180 hours bouncing between different timelines. Accidentally. One constant is his friend Spenser, an invaluable resource in helping Devin figure out how to stay in one place. It’s a lot harder than it should be.

PRECIPICE: Ophelia is afraid of demons. When Ronna asks why, she wants to say ‘Because I’m one wrong move away from becoming one’. She doesn’t. She thinks it would be giving away too much.

RECIPROCAL HAUNTINGS: It takes Reyna a few weeks to notice the ghosts. In her defense, she’s never been haunted before.

ABUS & PHARENTINE: Pharentine, a daughter of the son god Charo, is called to find the moon god Abus and bring him home. An original myth set on a fictional planet.

NECK & NECK: After attending a night class together, Elaine Holmwood and Missy West discover a fascination with vampires and each other.

TAGS & NAVIGATION

Published Works

bodyshare - bodyshare content & related posts tsp trilogy - the spider prince trilogy content & related posts convergent - convergent content & related posts precipice - precipice content & related posts rh - reciprocal hauntings content & related posts a&p - abus and pharentine content & related posts neck & neck - neck & neck content & related posts

Current WIPs / Pre-Publication

project cd - posts relating to project cd project sunscreen - posts relating to project sunscreen

Ideas / Concepts

ref luciferous - posts relating to lucifer and his garrison (iykyk) ref be not afraid - posts relating to qemuel and their garrison ref feywild - posts related to the faerieverse, if not specifically tspt ref absolution - posts relating to the therapist and her client ref otherplace - posts relating to the others and the otherplace ref masks - posts related to the heroes and their villains ref apoc - posts related to the kids and their apocalypse

[arredusworld]

Feywild

-A tropical continent dominated by bizarre life and unique geography.  To the north a coast wide mountain range, to the south shattered beaches and archipelagos stretching into the sea. Streams and rivers pouring down from the arid mountains water the tropical jungles, swamps, and savannahs, and drain out into the sea.

Mount Fey

-Making up the northern coast of Feywild, these arid peaks are home to some dangerous creatures. Their tall stature allows for the collection of water which feeds the west and east rivers.

West Siluel

-A winding river from the mountains that serves as the border between the jungle and the savannah. This river feeds straight into the ocean.

East Siluel

-A winding river from the mountains that feeds into the wetlands, which in turn drains into the sea.

Wetlands

-The lowlands in the south east, the wetlands are a collection of swamp, bog, and lakes, making this area very lush while not being too dense.

Fey Isles

-The result of a strange mixture of tectonic and volcanic activity has given these islands their strange geography and make up as well as being chock full of valuable nutrients that make them very friendly to plantlife.

[wall-eye]

a peek into the past of our feywild west characters

[leasdoodles]

We all made characters for a Feywild campaign we're all going to play eventually and I'm already so attached to mine

I don't have that much lore about them yet so i can't really give a backstory or anything, i just know i love them 🥰

[indomiinus]

rough version of the bg3!leon verse is up! ill probably tweak it a bit as i figure him out more, but yeah. 👍

👑Far from Home // BG3 TAV👑

Content warnings for abuse, exploitation, anxiety, depression, loss of identity, horror themes, blood, violence, gore, will likely also include mentions of past transphobia and misogyny

After finding a sword and shield in an underground cave system on his home continent of Eryth when he was ten, Leon was swept away by Rose, torn away from his family and friends and thrown into a life of nobility and knighthood. The Sword and Shield he found turned out to be the very ones wielded by the deceased Kings from centuries ago, and they only seemed to listen to him.

Class: Fighter // Champion

Proficient with: Short swords, long swords, shields, medium armor

Background: Noble

Life was... good.

As long as Leon stayed in line, did as he was told, he was treated kindly. And even better, his family was taken care of. They never had to want for anything just as long as Leon stayed under Rose's control.

At least, that was what he told himself anyway.

Even though he never saw his family again, and Rose was cruel with his teachings and controlling while acting kind and gentle when in the public eye, it was okay! Even when he was harassed and treated cruelly by people jealous of his position and Rose did nothing but tell him to handle it himself, it was all a small, insignificant price to pay surely.

But then, Leon was abducted by a ship from beyond the stars, and after a crash that should have killed him, he has suddenly found himself lost in another continent he knows little about. Far from home and with a mind flayer tadpole in his brain, all Leon can do is move forward and hope that he can find a way to save himself and the others that have also been infected.

Additional Information about his home country

Located west of Faerûn is the island continent of Eryth, ruled by a kindly king Ambrose Blackthorn. So loved is he that even his people simply refer to him as Rose.

It's said that long ago, some ancient evil was sealed under the castle in the Eryth capital of Wyndon, and that should it ever awaken, the world would be bathed in darkness and the monsters of the world would be strengthened tenfold under its rule. Long ago, the previous rulers of the kingdom fought and sealed the creature, though at great cost: they perished but swore to one day return when the world was in danger once more, and their sword and shield were lost to time.

The country is extremely closed off from the world, and has been for quite sometime. There are also entire sections of the country that directly mirror parts of the Feywilds, blurring the veil between the two realms.

[timeforelfnonsense]

Read Sunshine & Starlight on Ao3 Pairing: Dafni (F!Tav) x Astarion Rating: M (Later Chapters will contain explicit content) TWs: Light descriptions of canon level violence Tags: Meet cute bad, 3rd person alternating pov, chubby elf OC, Cleric Tav

Summary: Astarion had a plan. A nice, simple plan. All he had to do was not fall for her. After centuries of practice charming victims for his master, it should have been easy, but Dafni of Gwynneth was complications he didn’t see coming. Compassionate, selfless, innocence. She was every good thing Astarion had given up on after two hundred years of torment. There is something familiar about her. An inexplicable pull that draws him to her over and over again. For the first time in his undead existence, Astarion has something to call his own. Something to protect.

“Gods, my head.”

Dafni cringed, her nose screwing up in pain as she brushed the sand from her curls. She wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up on the unfamiliar beach. The last thing she could remember was connecting the transponder. 

Judging by the ship's state, she was lucky to walk away with only a few gashes and bruises. Even the little glass jars and vials within her healer’s kit survived without so much as a crack. She got to her feet, cleaning off what grime and viscera she could. 

She was back on the Material Plane, at least. Of that, she was sure. 

There was a distinct heaviness to the Material Plane, which Dafni had yet to grow accustomed to in the two months since her wanderlust had driven her to leave the misty moors and majestic forests of the Moonshae Isles behind. She hadn’t realized just how thin the veil between worlds had been back home before coming to Bauldr’s Gate. Even in the Material Plane, the Isle of Gwynneth still echoed with the whimsical, wild magic of the Feywild. 

Dafni riffled through her bag, procuring a filigreed compass from the disorganized heap of her belongings. She could feel the airy magic of home tickle her fingertips as she popped it open. The golden needle glowed as it flicked west. 

There was a fey crossing somewhere nearby then. 

Dafni tugged at the hem of her sleeve, her lower lip pressed between her teeth. If she were lucky, it would lead her to the court of the Summer Queen or some other court on amicable enough terms with her own. She could seek sanctuary there and send word to her mother. 

Thesmia’s Spire of Laurel housed one of the most vast collections of elven knowledge outside of Evermeet. There was a possibility a solution to her problem could be found within the walls of her mother’s tower. Dafni’s lips pressed together in a tight line. She loved her mother, but Thesmia’s well-meaning coddling often bordered on stifling. The idea of running home at the first sign of trouble felt too much like an admission of defeat.  

Besides, Nothing stayed a secret from the High Lady for long. It would not be a matter of if she learned of the tadpole, but when. No matter how much favor her mother had once held with Ordalf, she would not risk the safety of Sarifal’s Court for one eladrin. Especially not her.

She took a deep breath, the sweet, synthetic smoke of the nautiloid's smoldering wreckage scorching the back of her throat. Running home was not an option. She’d simply have to find a cure herself. 

No easy task.

But giving up had never been in her nature, and this seemed a dreadful time to start. 

Finding other survivors would be her best course of action. There was safety in numbers, and besides that, there was a chance other survivors may not have fared as well as she had. Magic tickled the tips of Dafni’s calloused fingertips; she still had a bit of power left she could save for more serious injuries. She’d make do with old-fashioned field medicine for anything else until she could rest. There was one thing left to do.

 Her nose wrinkled as she cast a glamour over herself. She’d grown so used to wearing one she had almost forgotten how restrictive her mundane disguise felt compared to the vibrancy of her authentic appearance. 

The magic felt itchy and stiff as if she were cramming herself into clothing two sizes too small. It felt wrong pretending to be something she wasn’t, but she had little choice. The majority of the common folk she’d come across in the Outer City knew very little of the land of Faerie, but the few who saw her for what she was, were quick to label her a trickster and deceiver. She’d need allies if she wanted to get through this ordeal, and she’d rather not start out with an air of suspicion hanging over her. 

There was something exceedingly suspicious about that woman.

She didn’t look like the creatures from the ship, but something about her prickled at his senses. A nearly imperceptible otherness that made his hair stand on end. It was like she was blurry at the edges. Astarion’s brow wrinkled, try as he might to bring her into focus; some invisible force would coax his attention away whenever he came close to genuinely seeing her.

Astarion watched her, crouched low behind the turk of a felled tree. One of those brain creatures had captured her wrist in its tendrils. She gave it a punt, sending it a few feet back with a wet thud. She drew an elegant longbow from her back, releasing two swift arrows. The creature seized, collapsing into a heap of ichor.

Her lower lip stuck out in a pout as she wrapped a hand around the angry red mark on her arm. Light radiated from an amulet around her neck before flashing beneath her palm. A sense of instinctive dread skipped down Astarion’s spine as the air crackled with divine magic.

He felt like an idiot for missing it—the pale blue of her clothing. The eight-pointed star was engraved at the center of her breastplate. He had thought her a mind flayer thrall, but she was something much, much worse. 

A cleric.

He almost laughed at the irony. Of course, he’d be spared by the sun only to be run through by a cleric.  And a servant of the Protector of the Elves, no less. No one could claim the gods lacked a sense of humor.  At least she was pretty. That would take some of the sting out of his demise, even if it was only a mind flayer’s trick.

Her freckled skin was the color of sage and stood stark against the pale gossamer fabric of her puff-sleeved blouse. She was fuller figured than most elven maidens, with wide hips and an ample bust that her light armor did very little to hide. Bouncy, pink curls fell around her shoulders from a high ponytail as she meandered her way up the cliffside path, mumbling to herself in elvish.

Always so quick to roll over, aren’t you? The memory of Cazador’s voice taunted. 

Pathetic. 

Astarion’s nails bit into the flesh of his palms. His lip pulled back into a silent snarl. For 200 years, that’s what he has been. Pathetic. Cazador’s wretched creature. 

But he was free now and never needed to be pathetic again. 

His chances of overpowering her would be slim if he relied on strength alone. But, if he could lower her guard, he might be able to get the upper hand long enough to get the answers he needed. He crouched low beside a fallen tree, doing his best to look shaken and meek.

“You there!” He shouted, “Can you help me?”

“Over here!” He called, waving her over. 

Her breath caught as she drew close enough to see the details of his appearance. A pale elf stood before her. Lean and graceful. 

“Are you hurt, friend? I-I think I have enough magic to heal you, so long as it isn’t anything too serious.” She stammered in clumsy common.

She watched, enraptured, as he ran his hand through a perfect coif of ivory curls. Dafni flushed, imagining her own fingers running through those soft, tossed curls.

He had truly been blessed with the aloof, dreamy beauty of Sehanine Moonbow. An incandescent majesty that demanded admiration and awe. He knew it too. His pretty mouth curled up into a sly, close-mouthed grin. His crimson eyes gleamed with amusement and knowing as he returned her gawking stare with an appreciative glance of his own.

There was something about him. Something more than his spectacular beauty. It tugged at the very core of her. Familiar. Like finding something once beloved centuries after it was misplaced.

Still, she was sure this must be their first meeting. She rarely forgot a face. Especially one as lovely as his. Judging by his finery,  he wasn’t the sort to visit her clinic in the Outer City, and she would certainly have remembered him from court.

“I could do a turn if you’d like?” He quipped, “So you can check for injuries, of course.”

Dafni’s face burned right to the tips of her pointed ears. She was supposed to be helping him. Not staring like a starry-eyed ninny. 

“I apologize, I’m not normally so– Distractible.” 

Dafni strained to keep her smile in place. The taste of soot and bile filled her mouth at her little fib. In truth, she was exceedingly and frequently distractible, even in the best of situations. It was a trait that drove her mother up the wall for years before she released Dafni from her apprenticeship.

The man cleared his throat, stifling a chuckle, “I’m fine, to answer your previous question. I’ve got one of those brain things cornered. You can kill it, can’t you?”

“I– Oh! Yes! Of course!” She stammered, plucking an arrow from the quiver at her back, grateful for the distraction from her self-induced humiliation. 

The tips of her ears twitched ever so slightly to a distant rustling. Her eyes narrowed as they locked onto a shifting patch of grass beyond the cliff’s shadow. Her fingers flexed with tension as she drew back. She had been about to lose her shot when a frightened boar burst from the overgrowth. 

“Good news,” she chirped, lowering her bow, “it was just a–“

Dafni froze, his slender arms wrapping around her waist. He pulled her flush to his frame. A scream had been at the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it at the cold steel brush against her throat. 

“Shh. Not another sound.” He whispered against her ear as he guided her to the dirt below, “Not if you want to keep that darling neck of yours.”

“Bastard,” she spat in elvish. A crown of cascading foxgloves bloomed in her hair, her hold on her glamour faltering as the magic strained against her anger. “Spider Queen, take you.”

“ That was quite vulgar for a priestess .” He scolded, tipping her chin up to face him with the edge of his knife. “ Now, I believe I asked you not to speak.”

Dafni took hold of his arm and twisted as hard as she could manage. Did he think her a helpless child? A maiden, too frightened and frail to fight back? With a sharp jerk, she slammed her head into his jaw. Her captor recoiled, losing his grip just long enough for her to break free.

A dull throb began in her head, but anything was better than a slit throat. He snarled at her, spitting out a mouth full of blood. Dafni drew the long sword at her hip, holding it between them.

“Come near me again, and by the Seldrine, I swear, I will cut that smug head right off your shoulders!” 

“You rotten brat!” He growled, “You’re in league with them, aren’t you? Those tentacled –”

Astarion winced, his gut twisting as a wave of vertigo washed over him. He clutched at his scalp, the sharp, nauseating pain behind his eye slowly melting into something else entirely. 

Visions of an ancient forest so lush and vibrant it could have been ripped right out of the pages of a fairy story. Sunset-drenched marble columns and spires wrapped in crawling vines. The sound of feminine laughter.  The bright, spicy-sweet smell of laurel on a temperate breeze. Wanderlust. So deep he felt it in the marrow of his bones.

Memories, he realized. Not his, but hers. Fragments of her life unfolding before him to him in a rapid reverie. 

Chipping, cornflower blue paint, and creaking floors. A shabby townhouse. An elf with mousy brown hair and a sweat-laden brow. The sound of her teacup clattering softly against its saucer in her shaking hand.  The sharp, minty scent of willow bark and creamy elderflower mixed as he twisted the pestle in his hand. The crunch of gravel beneath his boots on the way to the city gate. Nostalgia and homesickness as the old oak trees of the Cloakwood came into view. 

A prayer on his lips as he twisted and writhed against his restraints. Confined to a pod, helpless as the Mindflayer approached, a wiggling tadpole between its gnarled fingers. The taste of sick that threatened to escape his throat. Like ice and shadow, a whisper of darkness crept beneath his skin, calling for vengeance.

“They took you too. I saw it during... Whatever just happened.” He offered her a crooked grin, his voice playful as he continued, “And to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.”

He saw her relax a tad as he sheathed his dagger. He scooped her bow up from the dirt, offering it to her with as apologetic a look as he could manage. 

“Apology accepted. I suppose I might have done the same if I thought you were a thrall.” Her expression softened, and she extended a courteous hand, “I’m Dafni, by the way. Practitioner of Corellon’s holy arts, ranger of what I’d like to think is above-average skill, and I suppose, as of today, fellow tadpole haver. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Astarion,” He offered her a shallow bow, taking her hand into his own, “and I can assure you, the pleasure is all mine, darling.”

Her pulse quickened as his lips brushed against the back of her palm. He had caught a whiff of her on the ship, but he hadn’t been able to truly appreciate the nuances of her scent at such a distance. She was floral, woodsy, and tart, with a subtle earthy sweetness that made his mouth water.

“ Astarion, ” She said, speaking each syllable of his name as if she were savoring it, “What a pretty name.”

A shiver slipped down his spine. He had never given his name much thought, but something about the sound of it in her melodic elven accent felt almost intimate. 

 “Well, aren’t you a dear? As much as I'd prefer to stand here and listen to you say my name, I think we may have more pressing matters to attend to.” He said, gesturing to his temple,  “Do you know anything about these worms?”

The cheer fell from her girlish face. Her lower lip snagged between her teeth as she drew in a sharp breath. “I met a woman aboard the ship. She told me they would turn us into mind flayers if we didn’t get them extracted in time.” 

“Turn us into….” Astarion let out a burst of bitter laughter. “Of course, it will turn me into a monster. What else did I expect?” 

A frown touched the corners of her mouth. Her heart ached for him; his tone may have been glib, but beneath it, there was a genuine pain. A world-weary resignation she hadn’t accepted from someone so bold. 

“Hey,” She spoke in a quiet, comforting voice.“I know things look pretty bad, but that means they can only get better, right?”

She offered him a small, hopeful smile, placing a gentle hand on his arm. She cringed as she felt him go stiff beneath her touch. Dafni’s face grew hot. She pulled back immediately, tucking the offending hand behind her back. With the exception of their introductory rituals, most denizens of the Material reserved touching for acquaintances and kin. A lesson she’d learned the hard way after a few humiliating encounters. 

She watched as a touch of chagrin flashed across his pretty face, fading the moment his gaze flicked up from the withdrawn hand. An easy smile formed across his lips. Blite and rakishish, but his eyes still held a touch of uncertainty.  

His reaction felt practiced as if his discomfort mattered far less than the risk of it being perceived. A furrow formed between her brows, her lip catching against her bottom teeth as she bit back her apology. It would be best to drop it. She suspected an apology would draw more attention to his reaction and embarrass him further. 

Dafni tried to keep her tone even, as if nothing had happened, “Maybe it would be a good idea to look for a cure together. There is safety in numbers, after all. Maybe we will get lucky and find the gith woman from the ship or another survivor who knows where we might find a cure.”

Astarion’s posture relaxed slightly, his head tilting to the side as he considered her offer. Dafni could feel her pulse quicken with each passing second. Truth be told, she was desperate for him to accept her proposal. The idea of facing such a task alone was more than a little bit daunting, and despite having made his acquaintance at knifepoint, there was something about him that set her at ease. Perhaps it was the comfort of being among her people; maybe it was his playful charm, she couldn’t say. But, she was confident she would feel much better if they stuck together. 

Dafni let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding when Astarion responded, “You know I am usually more of the go-it-alone sort, but you do seem like a useful person and to know. If we could find an expert– Someone who knows how to control these things… We might still have time. Very well, I accept.”

[dndhistory]

233. Gary Gygax - EX2: The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (1983)

The direct continuation of EX1: Dungeonland, also by Gygax, this is also a direct adaptation of Lewis Carrol's sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass. As such, in a similar vein to the previous module, it's a fun, whimsical but incredibly punishing adventure.

Wonderland works pretty much in a similar way to the Feywild, a place where no being can be trusted, where nothing is exactly what it seems and where apparently innocuous things will get you dead in no time. And Gygax is true to that spirit, never a designer of easy or forgiving dungeons, this is another case of a dungeon for experienced and canny players who will know how to keep themselves alive and not put greed over survival.

Another interesting aspect to the EX modules is the fact that they are EXpansions, originally for the Greyhawk Castle dungeon, they were released before there was a proper release of the Greyhawk dungeons (it was never to be, there are some reconstructions out there, but the original stayed with Gygax). However, you can insert these into any ongoing dungeon as its own demiplane. This module is also a tribute to Don Kaye, a co-creator of D&D who died in 1975 and was Gygax's childhood friend, his player character, Murlynd, a kind of Wild West transplant to Greyhawk, has a central role to play here.