#he's very strong for a kobold. but not strong compared to a human

[ranticore]

one hour zero effort drawing ... for the soul. he's like if a rat could beat you up

[echoequinox]

Just flew on a plane for the first time in a few months and forgot how much I love them and I took notes about her the whole time, waxing poetic about how beautiful and graceful she is

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She's flexing her little wings before takeoff :) Making sure she's ready

Latios and Latias arent enough we need a sexy plane woman Pokemon, like those planes the furries wanna fuck

The little narrow struts on the undersides of her wings... little aerodynamic things with antennae like quills

We're passing a truck yard for like, construction equipment and they're the kobolds to my big plane dragon wife

Magical draconic runway in the shape of a big rune that eases in traveling dragons while also serving as a landing strip

The rumble as we take off, that ROAR of hers. She's so beautiful and powerful. The speed that pushes you back in your seat and pops your ears and shakes you around and then the DIP as you take off and that feeling of disorientation but she's fine. She loves it. And in SECONDS, the ground is like toys, like ants beneath us. It took less time than writing this for cars to be the size of bugs. The world is so small to her. She's so beautiful and strong and carries us aloft with such grace. I love you plane

Oh those little struts I mentioned move as we do!! They help guide her just a little bit! Probably help with banking and shit

Cartography wizards (cartogramancers? Lol) astride enormous dragons who keep note of all the changes in the landscape below. Listing every road, every footpath, every river, scribing it into an endlessly long magical atlas. Noting how the roads below form glyphs and runes, how they mirror the natural magic of rivers and tributaries, how homes and castles are built in the most defensible - or beautiful - positions and seeing vistas groundbound humans could never dream of seeing. The beauty of it all.

Fantasy alternate history ww1 where biplanes are replaced with steampunky dragons

Walter White looks up and sees two dragons fucking *lighthouse awed face meme*

This is getting away from airplanes and more toward dragons, I love the plane I think that a machine with the sole purpose of holding people tight and carrying them to far away places to see loved ones and new experiences is so beautiful, it's such a FASCINATING marvel of engineering prowess. This thing is BUILT on math and that's so cool. Every inch of her frame, every cubic centimeter of metal and plastic and cloth, are all accounted for in every flight equation. It's amazing. She's amazing.

I could *feel* her start to dip. That's another amazing thing - every single thing she does is NOTICEABLE. Every dip, every shudder, every increase or decrease in speed. My heart is pumping in time to her turbines, the electricity that runs through her veins is nearly palpable as we prepare for our descent

I'm polyamorous the way a plane is, compared to private jets and shit - they want to please everyone, they just want everyone to be happy and loved and safe, they want to deliver them with speed and safety and warmth and just. I love u miss plane

When my dog first came home with us, only a couple weeks old, he'd sit in the yard and look up at the sky as planes went by and made noise and he had a sense of total awe. I wonder how many dogs are looking up at me now while I look back down at the ground with equal splendor

Very funny to still see those pizza huts with the red rooves

The lights come on as we descend. She's been half asleep, coasting on air currents and pointing herself where she needed to go and now that we're dropping she's awake and aware. She's circling the landing strip like some kind of predator, watching and waiting for an opening so she can swoop down and attack the tarmac

Seeing the way cities are laid out, in perfect little beautiful grids, is so relaxing. Suburban sprawls packed with strange, enormous lives in little blocks of land, chunk by chunk, eventually touching residential, long strips of business and economy, commerce and trade and social lives, into the large, messy, chaotic industry beyond that. Infrastructure is beautiful. The leylines upon which planes were borne.

Water towers are so funny, why the hell did we refurbish an outdated means of water reservoirs, surely there could be a way to store more water more efficiently in treatment plants. Are they just for the Fun Cultural Aesthetic? Are they REALLY still that useful as a buffer?

Those little struts *are* at least partially used for banking but I think they're probably more like communications arrays combined with.. ballast isn't the right word. Counterweight? Idk. Beautiful regardless. Still love the little antennae

A little boat skims across a river, under a bridge where a highway passes over. I can tell it's moving fast, even from this high up. Tiny ecosystems exist beneath the hull, trillions of microbes, so far down beneath me now it's hard to make out any details other than the trail of white foam spray behind the boat.

Another water tower.

And another. Wild.

She rumbles as she drops, like she's grumpy, like she doesn't want to be on the ground. Silly girl, you can't fly forever. You need fuel and new passengers. She's flexing the little bits along her wings again, preparing for true descent now. The whistling is getting lower and lower pitched as we lose speed. I'm sure she isn't happy about it, but it's only going to be probably a half an hour or less before she's up in the air again. Calm down, girl.

And...

Touchdown.

One last roar as we slow. Beautiful. 💖

[akirameta84]

saiki au. its in modern times but fantasy as well. the cast is fantasy creatures and stuff and ive done this in a similar manner a bit ago but ive a betrer idea now

saiki is still a dragon (eastern because noodle) and hiding it, and this time its being theyre nearly extinct and so powerful theyre usually compared to deities and worshipped despite often just wanting to live a normal life just like everyone else

so, aince his humanoid form he can take is kind of an anthropomorphic version of his true form (which isnt all that big, he can function decently well inside of buildings), he pretends to just be a kobold. kobolds here are not known for particularly strong magical prowess and arent all that uncommon.

his scales are white/gray because of his cat form in canon i always tend to do this, and back, head, and tail fur is pink. his kobold form still has fur (but long hair) which makes him a bit of an odd kobold, but its not outrageously suspicious, and can be passed off as odd genetics.

hes smol, only 5 feet or 1.5 meters because hes got quadruped styled legs despite standing on 2 like kobolds do. his true form is a bit taller than nendou in height and is very long.

a strange idea for this au as well is that saikis adopted, his adoptive family (which is his canon family) arent dragons or kobolds. idk what they are but yeah

and heres a quirk of this au that all my aus tend to have before i post them, i just usually cut them out because its getting to the point that its becoming just an original story but these stupidly specific aspects are always in my aus, i just wanted to share ine for once:

while living in the orphanage at a very young age, meaning his magic control was limited (except for his ability to take his kobold form, because hes been practicing that for his whole life because of how his true form is treated), saiki was hit by a car. his healing ability wasnt very refined and his leg was injured pretty gruesomely, and he healed it wrong. it was technically healed even if incorrect and very painful still, though, and he couldn't do anything more to it. its injured permanently, making it hard to walk sometimes if its hurting more than usual, and its generally pretty weak. he uses a cane in private but is sadly a bit too ashamed to bring it in public, despite there being nothing wrong with it

rest of the cast is fitting fantasy creatures that im pretty sure i have identical in my other very similar au

kuboyasu-werewolf

hairo-centaur

nendou-orc

teruhashi-harpy

kaidou-vampire

aiura-siren

toritsuka-pathetic kitsune

akechi-just a human. sorry akechi

this is probably pretty boring but i dont really care. i like it. and its probably more bizarre than most of my aus because i didnt cut the odd details that make it practically no longer an au and more of an original story

if you read this au regardless thank you

[self-loving-vampire]

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (2018)

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a game that I liked a lot when I played it, but also a game that has a lot of obvious problems that drag aspects of it down. Fortunately, one of its big strengths is that it is extremely customizable, meaning that annoying or broken parts can be toned down for the most part.

Summary

This game has been called a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate, which I can see only on a sort of superficial level. What I can say it is that an ambitious and (in some ways) expanded adaptation of the Pathfinder tabletop adventure path of the same name, which I have run a little bit of.

For those who don’t know, an adventure path is essentially a whole campaign, starting at first level and spanning several interlinked chapters with their own minor antagonists and themes, sometimes but not always all the way to 20th level.

This particular AP is one that I’d consider extremely hard to make into a computer game without losing a lot of what makes it appealing in the process. It starts with a simple hook: A wild part of the world is under the rule of a bandit lord, if you defeat him then you will be allowed to found a barony on his land and develop it as you wish.

While the concept is straightforward, this is a great idea with tons of potential in the infinite freedom of tabletop play. While it is impossible for any existing computer to realize this potential as well as a skilled human DM could, the game does have a lot of strengths (and weaknesses) that make it interesting to analyze.

If I had to compare it to an older game, I’d actually use Troika Games’ 2003 cult classic Temple of Elemental Evil rather than Baldur’s Gate, for reasons that will become apparent to any who are familiar with it.

Freedom

I would say that this area is mostly fine. Once you finish the prologue (which doubles as a tutorial) you are largely free to explore the Stolen Lands... except that areas open up gradually depending on your main story progression.

While I understand that this helps keep things focused and manageable, there are times where these limitations end up feeling a bit contrived. Still, this is not a huge deal since each area is reasonably big and full of optional content.

One nice thing about exploration is that there are many areas with encounters that are far deadlier than anything you may be used to at that point, but which usually guard extremely valuable loot. This means that if you can figure out a way to overcome the encounter before you’re “supposed to” level-wise you will get a very satisfying reward out of it.

Defeating these encounters is not even strictly needed at times either. For example, there is a hidden crag linnorm (a CR 14 monster) in a cave within an area full of far weaker monsters (around CR 6 or so if I recall). While defeating the linnorm would not be easy for characters at this level, I managed to use the party’s rogue to sneak past it and loot its hoard without combat.

In terms of things like dialogue choices and the like, the game is also mixed. While you very often have multiple options, some of these options can be Stupid Evil (attacking people for no reason) or even flatly blocked by your alignment in ways that feel arbitrary.

For example, you need a Neutral alignment component to make peace between the mites and the kobolds in chapter 1.

There is one particular quest (courtesy of a kickstarter backer) that is a horrible railroad as well.

But overall I’d say you have more options here than in many other similar games, I mostly just wish the alignment stuff made sense and did not lock you out of options.

The game has multiple endings and Fallout-style ending slides describing what became of the people and places you influenced based on your decisions. However, achieving the secret ending or the secret romance is so extremely obscure that I’m actually surprised I managed to do it on my first playthrough.

Character Creation/Customization

This is easily one of the game’s most significant positives, while also being one of the things that may be extremely intimidating about it for people who haven’t played the tabletop.

With the DLC, there are 9 races to choose from and like 16 classes (not counting prestige classes). Adding to this, each of those classes has 3 optional archetypes that function as subclasses that add, remove, or modify class features.

Many of the races also have different heritages that switch around things like racial bonuses/penalties, resistances, and spell-like abilities.

However, I do have some complaints about it as well. Sometimes the explanations of what an archetype adds don’t seem as complete as they should be, and from what I remember a lot of your character creation decisions did not have enough of an impact outside of combat.

While the game does feature skill checks both in dialogue and in other parts of gameplay, they use the highest modifier within your party so your own stats are not vital to passing them, and (unlike its sequel) the game rarely features things like special dialogue options based on things like your race, class, or chosen deity as far as I can tell.

Also, while many tabletop options were understandably cut since the game was already over-ambitious as it is, this includes all kinds of item crafting (without mods that is). Things like potion-brewing are a pretty central aspect of the alchemist class, while wizards really benefit from scribing scrolls to handle many different situations.

Worse, this inability to craft and enchant your own gear can end up hurting the itemization in the game. There are tons of different types of weapons you can choose to specialize in, but for many of them you will struggle to find good weapons of that type to use within the game.

Also missing is the ability to meaningfully apply several types of spells out of combat, which really hurts some character ideas that would have been very interesting in the tabletop version (such as diviners or enchanters).

The whole system can also be a bit confusing to those unfamiliar with the tabletop. The game is not as clear and good at teaching as it should be.

Story/Setting

The game is set in Golarion’s Stolen Lands, an anarchic area with heavy fey presence. Compared to many of the more colorful locations in the setting, this is one of the more “standard” and generic regions, but there are still some noteworthy things that help define it, such as the ancient cyclops ruins beneath the land or the links to the alien First World of the fey.

Like the adventure path it is based on, the Kingmaker computer game has a story separated into several linked but defined chapters that each present a new threat. Kind of like anime arcs that introduce increasingly dangerous villains at the center of each.

The story is generally fine and the secret ending is as satisfying as it is obscure. However, I would say that story is not what makes this game good in my opinion. This is no Planescape: Torment.

The game features many companions. I did not really care much about roughly half of them to be honest, but I do like the approach used to present them. They are all very visibly flawed, which can make for bad first impressions, but as you spend time with them and do their quests you discover new depths to them that make them far more interesting, and you see them change over time as well.

One notable example is Jubilost, a rude know-it-all gnome with an unpleasant and caustic personality that covers some measure of real kindness underneath (as well as the fact that he does indeed know a lot, he just needs to be less of a dick about it).

And of course, the central idea of the story is something that you don’t actually see that much of in RPGs, or even in a lot of modern tabletop campaigns: The player gaining a kingdom to rule. I think that while there is no way to properly provide the same range of options for how to handle this as the tabletop version can, the game still manages to accomplish something interesting (even if not wholly good) in how it integrates the gameplay into this.

In many ways, ruling the kingdom can actually be kind of stressful outside of easier difficulties due to the interminable problems and literal curses plaguing it. You will have to contend with everything from monster raids to plagues and invasions throughout the game.

While the mechanics of managing the kingdom are not really all that well-balanced and are more of a pain than anything to a lot of people, the throne room events where you get to make decisions on policy and such are often fun and not something you see in many other games.

One thing that can be off-putting about the game’s approach to narrative decisions is that there are a few times where the outcome of a quest can feel a little arbitrary due to depending on seemingly minor dialogue options. This is especially bad about the above-mentioned secret ending and the secret romance option. They go far beyond “secret” and into “you will be lucky to achieve this without a walkthrough”.

Finally, a few of the alignment tags applied during conversation options make no sense. This is particularly bad during chapter 2, but the issue comes up outside of it as well.

Immersion

This is one area where the game is not that strong, for multiple reasons. For instance, the fact that there is no crime system at all. You can loot your entire town (where even magical items are sometimes inexplicably placed in random homes).

The day/night cycle also seems to be for aesthetic purposes only as there are no schedules to go with it (which at least makes sense from a gameplay standpoint I guess).

The one thing the game actually brings to the table here above most others is also one of its most controversial features: The passage of time.

There is a real urgency to your quests, as there’s actual consequences to neglecting threats and situations that are meant to be urgent. 

In most games this kind of urgency is completely fake and the story advances at whatever pace the player decides. Not so here. If you ignore, say, the troll hordes early in the game then their attacks will eventually overwhelm and ruin your kingdom.

Everything from travel to resting and even hunting in place of using rations takes time. Rest too much and you could be sacrificing your long-term ability to manage the endless threats around your kingdom in exchange for an edge in the encounters immediately ahead of you.

This not only makes the mechanics somewhat more interesting by forcing you to manage time instead of playing it safe by resting liberally and doing a 15-minute adventure day, it also ties in with the narrative of just how deeply cursed, troubled, and flat-out burdensome caring for your kingdom can be.

It also just feels more real that events move on their own regardless of whether or not you are present to deal with them. This feature is not entirely positive, though. It can obviously be painful if you are struggling or lost.

Gameplay

This is one of the game’s strong points, at least if you enjoy the mechanics of the tabletop. Just as Temple of Elemental Evil was a simplified and buggy but reasonably faithful adaptation of D&D 3.5 rules, Kingmaker is a simplified and buggy but (somewhat less) faithful adaptation of Pathfinder 1E rules.

Obviously there are many, many things missing from the tabletop. Classes, races, feats, I think also grappling in general, firearms, and etc.

I think a lot of these cuts are fair. This is a huge game already and it would have been downright miraculous to include every single option possible in the tabletop. The consolidation and removal of skills that were unlikely to have much use in the adventure also makes sense for balance purposes.

The combat as a whole is deep and complex enough to remain interesting for a long time, at least in turn-based mode (which I recommend). The amount of options available to magic users in particular is extreme even if many spells are missing, and many martial classes also have some features of their own beyond just basic attacks.

Also helping things is the very wide variety of enemies, some of which require a specialized approach to take down easily. You can’t just use the same tactics for every encounter in the game.

For example, trolls regenerate unless attacked with fire or acid. Undead have a whole host of immunities but are vulnerable to positive energy. Golems are immune to spells and extremely tough.

My main complaint about this aspect of the game is really just that combat is a bit excessive. There are far too many random encounters and even outside of that there is much more combat in general than in the tabletop version. Too many of these encounters end up feeling like padding.

This game probably could have been under 100 hours easily if a lot of the superfluous fights had been cut and overall XP gain had been increased. Even with enjoyable combat, 100+ hours of this is way too much.

Besides combat, there are “storybook sections”, where you are presented with situations and must make decisions about how to resolve them, often making use of skill checks to determine results. These are nice, not much else to say about them.

Which brings us to  the last major aspect of gameplay: The kingdom management. This aspect is controversial, and you can turn it off entirely if it sounds like it may not be for you.

There are three major aspects to kingdom management: Decisions, projects/events, and city-building.

Decisions are the most interesting by far. You will be presented by an issue or a request to decide on your policy in one area. You will be given a handful of choices with varying consequences, which may be referenced in later decisions.

Projects and events are more flawed while still having a good idea at their core. These are basically issues that you will need to assign one of your advisors to fix. For example, sending your general to deal with a hostile.

Where it falls apart is the fact that a dice roll is involved in determining success or failure (though there is a type of currency you can spend to improve your chances, which can reach 100%). There are also so many things going on that some of your advisors can be busy for months on a project while various events that require their attention pile up.

The worst part is that there are certain projects that require you to spend a fortnight at your capital doing nothing.

But even worse than this is the city building, which is a missed opportunity. Most buildings provide little beyond a relatively small amount of kingdom stats. This is still beneficial, but not very inspired or interesting.

So there are a lot of problems with kingdom building, one of the core features of the adventure path. While I didn’t hate it myself, I understand why some people might want to focus on the adventuring and combat.

This is also the point where I should mention that the game was incredibly broken at release even by eurojank standards. It is definitely a lot better in this area than it used to be, but is still not the most reliable of games.

Aesthetics

This is one area where the game does very well. Some of the environments look great, the monster designs are generally good, the music is great (though repetitive by the end due to the game’s length), and the combination of sound effects and brutal animations can make combat extra satisfying.

Areas can even change depending on the weather or the time of the year.

The only negative that comes to mind is that most of what you see in the game is relatively generic fantasy environments that don’t really stand out. I was never much of a fan of lush, bright forests and the like.

At least there is still a bit of variety, with dark swamps and mountainous areas, as well as the rare trip into the bizarre First World that fey creatures inhabit.

Accessibility

This is one of the three big complaints about the game (the other two being the bugs and the difficulty). If you are not already familiar with the PF rules then you may struggle to play this game effectively, at least for some time. From what I recall, many things are not that well explained.

In fact, you may have already heard horror stories about how one of the very first side quests you find sends you to a spider cave where you have to fight swarms, which is a type of enemy that is immune to normal weapon attacks outside of the easier difficulties.

This lack of clarity can also extend to your story decisions, as previously explained.

Conclusion

Like many other big and ambitious RPGs, Kingmaker has a lot of jank and technical problems, and its complexity and difficulty mean that it is not really the kind of game that will have widespread appeal. 

However, this does not mean it has no appeal at all. It is a huge game with entertaining combat, a story that puts you and your decisions at its center, and the rather rare opportunity to become a ruler in an RPG. It tries to do a lot  and I for one prefer games with big ambitions and passions like this over games that play it safe, even if they are more competent and polished.

I’d say that this game is mostly recommended for tabletop RPG nerds, people with “old school CRPG” sensibilities, and people with a high tolerance for jank. Others can definitely still enjoy it, but may want to use the easier difficulty modes.

[priortodaybreak]

so my friend dared me to put one of my ‘original works’ here so ya’ll are gonna get my DnD characters backstory bc thats the only thing i’m moderately proud of. absolutely no need to reblog or read, it’s going under the cut. thx

Mareep was born 30 years ago, in a deep underground cavern carved out into a hill within a lush green forest. Mareep was born an Urd—leathery yellow wings pressed tight to her back, still thin and unable to hold her weight just yet, with dark brown eyes—practically black in the darkness of the cavern system.

She hatched the same time as her twin sister—Seri, a small yellow Kobold with amber eyes. They were inseparable for the first few years of life, even when Mareep was taken out of the caverns to get flight lessons from a few older Urd. Mareep would shirk her lessons to find her sister, telling her all about the world outside the caverns with sunlight that would hurt her eyes, creatures she could spot tramping through the undergrowth, and the answers to the unrelenting questions she would have for the elders. They would speak for hours in a hidden cavern branch, where sometimes it would take a whole day for an adult to find them.

Seri wanted out of the caverns. Yellow is an unnatural color for Kobolds, and everyone made sure the sisters knew they weren’t like everyone else. Mareep was ‘acceptable’ because of her wings—she could be an asset to the colony, even with her obnoxious coloring. But Seri wasn’t so lucky—she wasn’t magically inclined, as some Kobolds could be from a young age, so she didn’t get special instruction. But Seri was fast—racing through the caverns with Mareep was one of her favorite past-times.

Seri wanted to be an adventurer—she would find a dragon for the clan, one that was powerful and strong, and then she would be accepted—even thanked. Mareep had no such ideals—she found the special treatment because of color or extra limbs to be distasteful—her tail would whip angrily every time a Kobold told them to stop racing through the caverns, especially when they eyed her beloved sister with distain. Seri didn’t understand her sister’s anger and distance the clan—they were Kobolds, and Kobolds stuck together, even when they didn’t really get along. But Mareep was loyal to Seri—going along with whatever her sister wanted, and if she wanted a dragon, then by Tiamat she was gonna get her a dragon.

One day, Mareep found her sister sulking in their carved-out quarters after Mareep angered the elders again with her onslaught of questions. During Common lessons, some of the other young Kobolds cried out and shrank and wailed at the sight of Seri—warbling about sunlight in the caverns hurting their precious eyes. It was a common insult, comparing them to sunlight, but this time Mareep could see it hurt her sister a bit more deeply.

So she suggested a run. Running always made Seri happy, and this time was no different.

Except they went farther than normal—squeezing through cracks and going deeper than the glow-stones traveled.

Mareep fell behind, calling for her sister to slow down, to wait for her, when there was a booming crash and a short cry. Mareep quickly found the place where the floor collapsed, and underneath was old catacombs. Slimy and moldy with a foul stench, Mareep spread her wings and entered without a second thought, gliding down to where her sister was pulling herself out of rubble.

They didn’t see the Ooze until it was almost on top of them.

Seri had hurt her foot in the fall—she couldn’t climb. Mareep grabbed her sister and tried to fly—she wasn’t strong enough to get more than a few feet off the floor. Mareep was scared—all those bedtime stories of Oozes coming after young Kobolds who didn’t follow rules were coming back to haunt them.

Seri was brave.

“We can take it!”

“What?! Seri, it’s huge-”

“So is everything else! Come on, drop stalactites on it! I’ll distract it!”

And it worked! Mareep would fly up and strike at the stalactites above the creature, cracking them and having them fall to strike the monster. Seri was still fast, even with her injury—she would run and dodge and taunt the creature.

Finally after one last large falling rock, the creature was dead. Seri cheered for her sister as Mareep clung, tired, to one of the remaining stalactites. Movement caught Mareep’s eye, and she gasped.

“Seri, look out!”

A second Ooze, clinging to the wall, fell fast and hard onto Mareep’s sister.

“Mareep, run! Run!” Seri shouted, clawing at the ooze, wide amber eyes darting around in fear to see other oozes falling from the walls.

“Seri-!”

“Find my dragon!” She cried out before being consumed by the black pudding.

Mareep still hates herself for running. They were eight springs old.

The elders flew into a panic—Mareep took them quickly down to the caverns again, begging the fighters to save Seri.

They just closed off the cavern with mud and fire—creating a thick wall with no cracks, nothing the Oozes could seep through.

Mareep injured three older Kobold in her fury before they could subdue her.

She was angry with her clan—she understood, logically, why they did what they did, and she hated herself for understanding. But she hated the Oozes more. She would analyze the fight before sleeping, running through her last moments with her beloved sister over and over again. She questioned any and all Kobold fighters about the nature of Oozes—where they were found, what kinds, what they could do, how they could fight.

The archers took to her—they liked her drive, her single-mindedness. They taught her how to shoot, how to hunt in the forest—her wings gave her an advantage in the treetops, surprising enemies and giving terrain details to the lead hunter to set up traps and flank enemies. When Mareep turned ten springs, she was taken on routinely raids and more frequently into the nearest towns to trade jewels for clothing and weapons.

It took 5 springs, but she soon amassed enough knowledge and survival gear to leave her clan and embark on her own.

She was on her own for 4 years, sticking to the familiar terrain of forests before she was captured by an Orc group. They shackled her and caged her, and after a year of wandering to towns and cities and being bartered over in back alleys she was sold to a Human warlock named Alesil De la Hera.

Alesil was old and bitter. He was looking for a slave—concealed by the title ‘assistant’ to protect his ‘name’. He worked as a Public scribe—sitting in dusty stalls for hours on end, writing letters for those less fortunate to be able read, let alone write. Mareep would keep his water skein full, keep his desk clean and his writing implements sharp, and use her wings to fan him when there was no breeze.

The first time she tried to run, he found her within minutes and cast Eldritch Blast—Mareep learned very quickly not to run.

Alesil was partial to ale and would often lament over his lost job—for quite a number of years he was a Court scribe, working under royalty to record official documents and write beautiful letters for nobles. But no matter how much Ale Mareep would fetch for him, or how she would fawn and grovel to him, he would not reveal why he had to leave the lap of luxury for a dusty stall.

Mareep, full of questions but having a healthy fear of her master, would seek answers in the multiple tomes he kept in his modest home, reading in the dark to prevent waking Alesil. At one point she unearthed his book of spells and could not bite her tongue fast enough the next morning.

“You could just get an Unseen Servant to do it.” She grumbled but shrunk in fear when Alesil’s head snapped up from his breakfast to hold her with his eyes.

“How do you know that spell?”

“I mean no disrespect, o’ great Master Hera-!”

“Answer the question, Urd.”

“…I read it, Master. In your book of spells.” Mareep squeaked, tail coiled tight around her leg.

“…You can read common.”

“Y-yes, Master De la Hera. Read and write. As well as Draconic.” Mareep said, no immediate punishment making her raise her snout to look at her master.

“The Orcs told me you were a stupid creature, ousted from your clan for your color, but quite good at groveling to higher powers.” He said, and Mareep visibly bristled, tail unwrapping to swish once.

“Just because I am small does not make me simple.”

Alesil laughed, causing Mareep to pause.

“Right you are. And what thoughts do you have on my letters?”

“That you write for the illiterate?” Mareep clarified, causing Alesil to nod. “You speak only the truth in the letters—even if it is not what the person wants. It is…admirable.”

Alesil laughed again. Mareep was unnerved, but no longer afraid.

“To answer your question, little one, I do not use an Unseen Servant because I like being able to see the people who work for me.”

“So you’re just a bastard.”

“A bastard who can instruct actual people on how to properly maintain my tools. Come, time to go to the stall.”

After that interaction Mareep fielded more questions at Alesil, who would answer depending on his mood. He would throw piles of paper at the Kobold, requiring her to organize them and read the information contained within, then quiz her on the information later. He taught her how to write perhaps a bit more elegantly, instead of what he called ‘dragon scratch’.

He eventually learned her name, but refused to call her by it in public—perhaps to maintain the ‘assistant’ air he so often tried to keep on him like a threadbare cloak.

Alesil eventually told her more about his life as a Warlock and a Court Scribe. His pact required him to give souls to maintain his power—the more ‘innocent’ the soul, the more power he would obtain. He started with wild animals, but soon his daemon was no longer satisfied. So, he worked his way into the good graces of a royal and would falsely accuse visitors of forgery or deception against the ruler. They would be thrown in the dungeons, where he would then harvest their soul to give to his daemon.

But while he was a scribe, he discovered something about the royal lineage that the librarians were ordered to hide. One of the older kings was barren—his queen would not become pregnant. So he ordered a handmaiden and a soldier to enter a nearby settlement and steal a babe to raise as their own.

The royal blood wasn’t so royal after all.

He left quickly and disappeared into the masses, but he missed the lavish lifestyle he had. The librarians had come to the conclusion he knew and threatened to have his wealth and title stripped before the king if he did not leave the court immediately. So he made an excuse to the current royalty—that he was getting on in age and wished to retire to a comfortable life. They were angry with his abrupt departure but allowed him to leave with his head on his shoulders.

Under fear of being discovered, he hasn’t told anyone of his findings—who would believe him? And blood doesn’t matter—wealth and authority do, in his eyes, and he had to give both up to continue living and maintain his name (or at least, the fake name he used in their court).

Alesil refused to tell Mareep who exactly the barren king was, because anything he told her eventually made its way to their stall mates—he still received invites to the local pub because of her loose tongue.

They grew close over the years, more like ‘master and student’ and less like ‘master and servant’. Alesil taught Mareep how to read, write, and speak both Dwarfish and Elfish. Mareep would listen more attentively than any student he ever had—drinking in his every word, her mind running fast and sharp, sometimes ahead of her speech and she would slip into different languages (most usually Draconic).

On occasion, when sitting in a stall was unproductive (such as a rainy day) he would take her to the local library or bookshop and introduce her to colleagues passing through, to the local librarians and other Sages. There and only then would he introduce her as his student—sometimes while she was exploring shelves for literature he requested she would catch a fond tone in his voice, but dismiss it as him talking about his Warlock days.

They spent 10 years together. Mareep never felt the burn of a spell except on that first day, and they grew to care for each other over time and through hardships.

One hot spring night, Mareep was startled out of a doze by her Master’s hoarse shout echoing through the house. Grabbing a water skein, she rushed to his room, helping him breathe and drink slowly—when his hands shook too much, she lifted the water skein.

She was dismissed rather harshly, and he locked the door to his room behind her after practically shoving her out. She fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of the Oozes again after not thinking of them for the longest time.

She missed her sister. Seri would have known how to approach Alesil.

Mareep missed his exit into the storm that shook their roof, and instead nervously shuffled papers and organized books that were already organized. When he returned with adventuring gear made to fit a creature of her size, she was stunned. Nothing could have hinted at this as the result.

“I have an assignment for you, Mareep.”

“Yes, Master Alesil?”

“I need you to search for an answer to this question—don’t look at it now.” He said, handing her the thick parchment, worn soft at the creases. “It is beyond this town’s knowledge. Perhaps some other locations may lend insight. You said you were a Ranger, correct?”

“Am. I am a ranger.” She answered, and he smiled at her.

“Yes, quite right. Here—everything you could possibly need. Wait, one more thing.” He said, rushing off to his chambers before coming back with his calligraphy set. Wrapping it in wax parchment, he set it deep in the adjusted backpack to be protected from the elements.

“Master…”

“I had them specially make the backpack and clothing to fit someone of your stature and maintain your ability to fly. This belt will hold your short-sword and whip. The quiver sits under your arm with a cover to keep the arrows in, and the longbow attaches to it. This is a sheath to attach to your ankle for the dagger.”

“Master.”

“I had to short a few rations and torches to fit the other supplies, but you have excellent vision in the dark so I didn’t see that as an issue-”

“Alesil!” Mareep shouted, stopping his furious packing. “What is this about?”

He pointed to the parchment in her hand. “Bring me the answer to that question and I’ll proclaim you as my student to anyone who will listen.”

Mareep swished her tail at the challenge and nodded firmly. She changed, and he dispelled the magic on her ankle chains keeping her bound to him.

“Good luck, Dragonling.” He said to her at the door, into the pouring rain, and she grinned a mouth full of teeth at her Master.

“I don’t need luck, I’m a Kobold.”