#let me know if y’all are interested in seeing/hearing more about some of my dnd characters I love to talk about them

[shesmymausoleum]

Been crawling out of a bit of an art rut so I drew what I know I’m good at: strong woman. This is one of my dnd characters Ratt

I really didn’t feel like drawing clothes because that’s not what I’m good at , plus I needed a reference for her scars since I tend to draw her in action poses so I don’t have a consistent look at them. Ratt’s a ton of fun for me to draw although I think this is the first time I’ve drawn her without her dress

[clonememesfrikyeah]

Some clone oc concepts for y’all:

A clone with a fondness for botany is deployed on a jungle planet whey they come across a rare species of plant and they save it and present it to some sort of official because the plant contains the cure for some disease but the official was like mmmmm we gotta destroy that because if people have easy access to a cure then that won’t spend money on treatment and that will ruin my stocks, cue the clone running away with the plant and they tell their squad mates about it and they cover for him while he escapes off world with the plant and deserts and starts cultivating it until he has a ton of it and secretly distributes the plant to pharmacists that actually want to make a cure

A clone who is really good friends with this older guy that runs a theater on Coriscant that welcomes clones and they meet up and talk whenever they can because the clone is just glad to have a friend they can talk to about their favorite movies and interests with and the old man is glad to have someone to talk to because his kids don’t come around any more and the clone is like the grand kid he never got to have, near the end of the war the old man passed and he left the clone this old space drive in theater on some outer rim planet that he used to run in his youth but then he had kids and had to move because of all the conflicts and it was abandoned, he couldn’t leave the theater on Coriscant to the clone because he had already promised it to his eldest, but then the Order hit and the clone wanted out with a few of his squad mates so they went the only place they had and ended up fixing the place up and running it

Clones that sneak off to god knows where at unholy hours and their CO’s are suspicious that their doing nefarious activities and follow them only to find out their just playing DND with their friends

Clone who played space hockey at the local community center that was open to the gar and ends up making some friends and they form a team and there actually really good at playing and some corporate sports dude with money notices and he’s like hey you guys could make bank doing this with me, I can set you up with other teams for matches that people would pay money to see and you could make it big. And their like idk this team is made up of a republic clone, a middle aged IT guy with a lot of college debt, an elderly woman on parole for petty theft, a couple of Highschool brutes, a 10 year old with a thirst for blood, a bimbo, a non-binary with two toned dyed hair and a bag of crystals and Craig, but their like ehh we do need money let’s just try it and it goes alright for a while until the guy try’s to swindle, manipulate, divide and exploit them to which they respond by not working with him anymore and exposing him to his competitors and letting the 10yo bite the guys ankles, then they go on to win a big nationals game, get that bag, dip and go back to just playing for fun.

Clone that goes exploring and always has some sort of paranormal experience, every time without fail, it’s like a curse. In the woods? Their gonna see some weird shit up in the trees that ain’t normal. In an abandoned civi area in the middle of a war zone? Their gonna hear disembodied voices and see apparitions. Just chilling in the barracks? Shit moves on its own sometimes. They always wake up with dirt in their pockets even if they haven’t been in a planet in months and have really unsettling vivid dreams. Turns out they are little cursed in the way that ghosts are just attached to them and their actual the one who’s haunted.

Clone who has a dream of being the gar’s best electrician because they feel that the trades should be something that should be an option to learn on Kamino because they shouldn’t just rely on droids to fix those problems all the time, they can fail, get shut down with an EMP blast, and be generally unreliable. Besides, aren’t they supposed to be fighting droids? They should be putting their lives in the hands of droids every time they need to get a door open. Their very passionate about it.

Clone who is working on one of the galaxy’s hardest math problems as a pass time and actually solves it and the galactic sciences institute that I just made up is offering a reward to anyone who is smart enough to solve such equations and in their excitement they tell their brothers who tell other troopers who tell the occasional civi (because we all know gossip runs rampant in the gar) and soon the word is out someone solved an impossible equation and soon this clone has a bunch of bounty hunters on their tail who were hired by some math weirdo’s that have been trying to solve the equation for years and now want to steal their work and take credit for it and get the reward.

A clone who runs off to literally join the space circus and meets a lot of cool people and sees a lot of nice places and there’s a lot of shenanigans and adventures and they get to be the most extreme, freest version of themselves and they eat strictly fair food.

Clone who runs a mystery shack type of emporium in the barracks. Like their a first gen clone and they’ve seen a lot of stuff and been a lot of places and they like to collect weird stuff and they keep it all in their tack box and if you trade them something cool or useful they’ll let troopers look at all their weird stuff; like the picked space rat toes he found at the market and he thought that it sounded weird and they weren’t sure pickled feet of an animal no less a rat sounded particularly delicious to him but hey people eat it and it must good for the market to keep it in stock besides they’d only ever had frozen vegetables and nutrient paste all his life, the jar of chewed gum they’ve been filling since their shiny days, a keychain with half the writing scuffed off and it was left as a mystery as to what it says, a rare mislabeled munitions cartridge, some feathers, eggshells, leaves, dirt and other natural items they’d collected from planets they’d been to, a collection of cursed drawings they’d randomly had handed to them by other vod and his favorite one is the tooka with wings and a human face, a rare flavored nutrient packet that had been discontinued before the war started, a 24 sided rubix cube, a funny looking half melted space McDonald’s toy from the clone equivalent of the 90’s, a shard of a CD that is ancient technology from a time long passed, a bunch of zip ties that a couple of cloaked figures tried to give him by attacking them to his back armor but he couldn’t stick around and make friends because he had a meeting to get to, and a ton of other trinkets and treasures he’s found (and may or may not have accident or purposefully stole or gotten from many miscommunications)

Clone who is obsessed with art and color but is part of the Kamino guard and the bleak walls drive them crazy and they go out of their way to express themselves in every subtle rebellious way possible. It’s hardly ever noticeable except Nala Se absolutely notices but it’s so minute it would be petty to make a fuss about it but it pisses her off to me end.

A clone who is stationed on a remote outpost that functions as a lookout but nothing major ever happens and the planet is going through a drought and forest fires are starting to happen often and threaten the tower and the near by inhabitants and basically the clone becomes a fire tower look out for lack of anything better to do.

Clone who brews their own liquor by using a glass jug they found in a dumpster, a bunch of home made equipment, watching space YouTube videos and stolen yeast and fruit juice from the cafeteria. The brews are so strong that it’s like drinking straight Star fighter fuel and it’s related to how they got their name somehow.

Clone who was accidentally left behind on a temperate forest planet that’s not very populated and doesn’t use a lot of his tech and so they wandered miles to the nearest village to find supplies and maybe a communicator but there are no such long range devices within a 200 mile radius so they survive doing various jobs around the community in exchange for supplies and becomes a well liked, integrated part of the community and is known as the village handy person/muscle/problem solver and they take a likening to the arts and ends up setting down to become a local glass blowers apprentice.

Clone who invents and tinkers with things

Clones who write. They write fan fiction about their favorite holo films and radio shows, they write there own original works, they write comprehensive works about how life is in the gar, they right anonymous letters to senators in protest of the war, they get the vod who can draw to do illustrations for them, they start groups they talk about their writing with. Basically take what the creative part of the fandom is and and apply it to them.

Clones who find they have a natural talent for magic and mystic arts that aren’t of the force and in there search for what these powers are and what to do with them the fall down a rabbit hole in the archives covering lore, mythology, spells, and history all over the galaxy and start to notice something’s off and there’s something recurring or whatever you guys feel like but one thing leads to another and suddenly there caught up in a thousands of years old conflict between mystic forces that are invisible to the majority of the cosmos, and bonus plot twist it turns out there a rare kind of magic wielder, either the powerful kind or one that’s so rare there’s only ever been a couple other, or their capable of anti or reverse magic casting.

Clones who are mall rats, like when they get to Coriscant they break out the civi clothes they’ve salvaged from store dumpsters and just hang around stores, especially the ones that don’t allow clones inside out of spite, and they get cheap earrings from space Clare’s and get cinnamon sugar pretzels from the food court.

Clone who has died and their navigating the afterlife and this can be whatever anyone interprets the afterlife as, it can be like what mandalorians believe and everyone of mandalorian heritage goes to the same plane of existence to live in peace together, or it’s based on where they die and what deity’s control those areas that determines what afterlife they go to, or it’s universal and depending on if you were a good person or not determines where you end up, maybe the afterlife is like a never ending adventure that sometimes feels like a feared dream and it’s like a soul collective with everyone whose ever died there and it’s expanded across planets and reality’s and it’s very similar to how life was but also very different. Just do whatever you feel like for this one!

Alternatively to the prompt above, clone who dies and becomes the grim reapers apprentice.

Clone who makes there own clay by collecting it while deployed then processes it and using it to make air dried little figurines.

Clone who makes jewelry out of wiring and glass and scrap metal prices using the tiny mechanic tools out of the tool kit their bachmate has to fix fighters that they often don’t need.

Clone who accounts pulls a Narnia and falls into an alternate high fantasy like dimension and goes on a whole adventure to try and find a way back but ends up spending a whole lifetime there making friends and having a family and a whole alternate life and when their old they find the way back and when they get back it’s like nothing changed at all and their young again and in the middle of a war that has no meaning puppeteerd by an obviously corrupt government who is using them and their siblings as slaves and canon fodder and it took them living a whole alternate life of freedom in a different dimension to realize how absolutely FUCKED it all is so they stage a coup and fight for freedom with their new knowledge and skills while smuggling clones that would like to go to this alternate universe.

Clone who somehow ends up in a really weird town in the middle of nowhere. Like if you’ve ever listened to podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale, Death by Dying and Uncanny County or seen the tv shows Gravity Falls or Over the Garden Wall I’m talking that kind of weird. Paranormal weird, cryptide weird, Midwest gothic weird, weird core weird, small town weird and spooky weird all combine into the same type of weird weird. And they live a happy life there and suspect nothing is out of place there because they have no clue how to live a normal civilian life as a clone and just contribute to the weird as one does.

A 332nd trooper who is deployed to Mandalore to capture Maul and gets lost in the underground part of the city and encounters a mando who attacks them and they win the fight, but they have now unknowingly killed an old, outcasted mandalorian god that had been weakened from time and fading belief in them. And it’s a magical rule that if you kill a god you become that god and get their powers because I said so and yeah basically a clone that becomes a new mandalorian god and had to deal with the really crappy legacy the late god left them with because through a series of misadventures they find out that god wasn’t exactly well liked amongst most gods.

Clone who grows a secret moss walk in the barracks.

Clone who goes out for drinks while on leave and they get absolutely fucked up and they wake up the next day to find they accidentally got married to someone who was also at the bar and was equally wasted and they go out to talk about it because ummmm hey were married apparently but I don’t even know your name and they find out that their each nice people who have similar interests and actually might like each other but it’s not an ideal situation for a relationship but it’s beneficial to them because it might legally grant the clone citizenship if they took it to court and the other gets better taxes and benefits so they stay married for mutual friendship and legal benefits.

Clone who works at an antique shop on Coriscant when they have leave. Except the shop is filled with cursed, dangerous, mystical artifacts. (it’s a little like Warehouse 13 if you’ve ever seen that show)

Clone who raised a jar of space sea monkeys on a top bunk in the barracks.

Clone who becomes a line cook after the war is over and moves around to a lot of restaurant jobs and works their way up and eventually after many years of experience and hard work they become an executive chef and then go off to staff their own place.

Coriscant guard who has an above human average iq and works In investigations and specializes in forensics. (Their friends call them Sherlock but they’re more like Temperance Brendan from that show Bones).

Clone who has a pet ant farm but the aunts are space aunts and they spit acid.

Clones who are book/pdf file dealers and smugglers because the intel gar troops are allowed to have is highly regulated.

Clone who makes candles out of the wax they use to clean blasters with and puts them in space monster cans and they smell rancid when lit.

[canarydraws]

Queen of shadows

If you were interested in the story I was sharing in my last post about my dnd campaign, I’m gonna pick up in the story under the cut!

So, to preface go check out my post titled “Cosmolian Red” if you wanna hear the events leading up to this (warning for eye trauma and drug mention). A lot had just happened. Lucéena learned Weiss killed her dad and then tripped on drugs so hard she saw an astral dreadnaught which proceeded to pick up their hiding place and yeet them a considerable distance into a tower. It was a rough crash. Thankfully after a revivify to our rogue and a group healing spell from our cleric we all made it out in relativly one piece. We were able to catch our breath and see that our little hut had crashed through a wall and we were in the middle of a long hallway scattered with statues. We’d actually broken a few on our way in and as Lucéena went to inspect them she got.. memories? I think she recognized some of the people they were supposed to be but she didn’t remember names.

By this point she didn’t see the stars of the astral sea anymore and her eyes had stopped bleeding so Lucéena began to walk down one way of the hall to further inspect more of the statues. Our wizard Echo went with because the party’s fighter was just wandering away with blood still drying on her face and exploring on your own was clearly what we didn’t need lol. We eventually came to a balcony where we saw that we had indeed reached the Citadel of Shadow. The city stretched below us, massively small, and there was movement among the buildings that turned out to be monsters, not people. It was here that Lucéena had another memory. She was standing in the exact spot she was now but she was smaller and she was holding someone’s hand. With all these memories, she couldn’t doubt that she had initially been raised here.

And while the two of them were talking, they were approached by guards, an older shadar-kai man who looked like an advisor, and the ruler of the shadowfell herself Queen Amali (described as the lovely art above depicts). All of whom wanted to know who tf we were and why and how we had broken through the wall of her palace. With some attempts at civility and a charm spell or two from Echo, we eventually led her back to our group where she invited us to join her in her dinning hall. During dinner the older man was starring daggers DIRECTLY at me as we tried and ultimately failed to explain our mission of retrieving these clone/artifacts. To cover up a misstep in the conversation, Echo ended up saying we were here to look for Lucéena’s famiy 🥲 Lucéena was NOT ready to be put on the spot and also wasn’t 100% sure she cared to find the family that abandoned her but the queen was like alright let’s do that.

Like the mysterious and powerful elven lady she is, she booped luceena’s forehead and suddenly all of her childhood memories came rushing through her mind. She saw memories she hadn’t thought of in some time and others she’d swore she never recalled. Eventually we got to the memory Lucéena had glimped when she was standing amongst the broken statues. It was a man was leaning over her and asking someone out of her line of view what her name was. A voice replyed this time and said Isla, Lucéena’s middle name. She also got another name “Alune” which she repeated out loud. The man who had been staring daggers at me all this time paused for a moment and said that was the name of his wife. Lucéena tried to play it of like ‘oh I met her once’ but everyone was looking at her like they expected something so she ended up leaving the room.

SO, fast forward a little bit the party is in a guest room the queen had given us for the night trying to figure out how we’re going to bring back up the subject of the clones or if we should just steal them. The advisor came in and introduced himself as Gendren Lovelace. After some awkward talk he also said that he was pretty sure he was Lucéena’s father. He suspected when he first saw her because she apparently looks a lot like his wife. Alune had been a general for the queen but she wasn’t remembered too kindly in these halls because she’d apparently cast a curse on the citadel.

BUT I now have descriptions for Lucéena’s biological mom and dad and you know what that means? It means it’s time for family portrait 2 electric boogaloo! Gonna find some time for that… some time. Honestly the session ended right after some of these revelations were made so I have a lot of questions and I’m sure my recount doesn’t make the most of sense. For example Lucéena never got another chance to interrogate Weiss. But perhaps by the time I can make the og family portrait I will have enough of the pieces to present to y’all with a mostly complete family story. Like how Lucéena came to live with the Rowans from being the young daughter of a general in the shadowfell. And why her mom apparently put a curse on the city that turnes it’s residence to stone.

[knickpnackattack]

Demisexuality and Being Seen in Dimension 20 A Court of Fey and Flowers

Y’all, what an episode right? I’ve been reflecting a lot on why of all actual-play romances, Rue/Hob would be the one that hits so fucking deep in my heart in a genre (regency, let alone the broad one of romance) that I don’t care for. This got really long, but if you’re into that sort of thing enjoy some reflection on sexuality and some DnD.

So... I guess I get into it? Thanks to ye old days of 2010 Tumblr I’ve known I was asexual/romantic for more then a decade. Comfortably so until I got to know a lady well and PANICED that maybe I was actually just a lesbian. Identity crisis galore that has come around to leaning into queer and embracing my own brand of demi. Now I have an even older friend that over distance, miscommunication, and opportunity are stumbling into something that only reinforces my identity. 

Being demisexual to me does not me a slow build up, a sudden jump from friends to romantic attraction. To be honest, I still say ace because I’m not even sure if I what I feel isn’t just friendship+/qpa. Being demi is also looking across a room at a person and feeling as though you are looking into a mirror that has never once been at the right angle with good lighting at the same time. It springs a leak that you can only plug for moments at a time before it springs a million other leaks (enjoy a specific song about coming to terms with being poly). The knowing itself usual takes a while, but it sure as hell doesn’t have to.

I’ve always said I don’t like romance plots because I don’t see myself in them. Then comes along a bugbear and owl bear... I know Andherra’s right there (oh god to I love them and Omar) but there is something deeply neurodivergent and demi about Rue and Hob that claws at my heart.

Rue has Wuvvy, an amazingly close friend who cares for them deeply but Rue over millennia has found no one to whom they felt they could be there true self with. Rue, who seems to never once took interest in romance, or love, or life-long partners. They could have had one in an instant with their glamor, one with boundaries or another court so their true form never needed revealed. Instead they lived for pride and their job and other people’s joy (oh god to I feel this).

Hob who seems to long for something but knows that the Goblin Court could never be the ones to grant it to him. Hob who doesn’t understand the cues that others send, the cultural distance between the Goblins and other courts despite his efforts to understand any of them. Hob who despite this saw only a sign of affection he couldn’t describe but he needed closer so he ate a flower (yeah, I’m one of those demi’s who mostly wants snuggles and to drag people close to me).

Rue and Hob knew each other so suddenly with barely a word spoken in the woods during the Hart Hunt that I clocked something in myself. In the watching someone be free of your chains but so deeply bound in their own that you yourself are free of. To lack words to label what you finally see and write to yourself, your friends, and people who lack your best interest purely in an attempt to understand something you only just now know. To refuse it access to your hear because it’s against you’re identity (I SWORE I was ace and finally had a panicked conversation with friends about what it FEELS LIKE to have a crush and to come to terms with identity before I even opened myself up to analyzing it because I couldn’t contain it). Burning the letter, the duel, every moment Hob has considered a motion towards Rue but the fear of what that means for his place, even one of immense discomfort, and Rue’s inability to look at Hob for fear of the strength of the bottle he pushed things into.

Episode 7 - The Masquerade was... I can only think of sad metaphors knowing what we learned about Andhera so ignore that Rue really looked at Hob and shook him hard. Yes! There are feelings there about what your court is doing to you/using you for! Not even feelings about them, just that Hob deserves support to examine any and all feelings he has. I literally had friends do this to me to get me to understand my current person. Hob and Rue not knowing the weight behind the items that they have been given but both finding ways to hide them in their outfits for the ball, literally themed around hiding parts of yourself and yet they chose to hide a part of someone else with them to. And despite being on terms in which their last interaction was Rue potentially shattering Hob’s world, his first instinct was to look for the one person he knew was like him in some reflection and to protect them at all cost. Then for a dance card and stumbling words to be the quietest admittance that they see the honor in one another and the lack of being seen by their own courts. It is the same looking in someone’s eye who is also demi/ace and saying ‘I see you and your boundaries and now you can see where I stand’ only for them to turn around and do the same.

I too would want to eat a piece of paper that says ‘I see all this in you’.

Any who, this got all sorts of rambly but um, yeah I guess Rue/Hob is me crying over feeling represented the the process of being demisexual/romantic and not just experiencing it but the painful up and downs, confidences that help and hinder, fears and hopes, of coming to terms with those rare but oh so precious diamonds of finding someone to connect with.

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 4

The Case of the Puzzling Painting 

Welcome back to Loam Hall where our Sylvan Sleuths are still hanging out in a room with a dead body. When we left off, Gangie had been snooping into Sly’s conversation about Fletcher Cottonbottom and now, he uses his Criminal Contacts feature to see what he knows, if anything, about a recent return. With a 26 he knows that his family used to be well respected but after the whole business with the insurance fraud and Sly busting it, the family kind of fell out of favor. So Fletcher was in a weird position where he was rich and a part of high society and had enough dirt on everyone to get them to do things for him but couldn’t actually show his face because he was disgraced. Gangie also knows that it’s rumored that Fletcher’s weapons running scheme was actually a front for moving art. 

With regard to more recent news about Fletcher, Gangie was never in direct contact with him but he knows that 3-4 years ago, his most trusted henchmen started going missing--people attributed it to some kind of “Cottonbottom Curse” and that rumor is part of why Gangie decided to get out of dodge in the first place.

Buck does an insight check on the rest of the PCs and, with an 18, doesn’t clock anyone there as especially suspicious (Lars isn’t there but like..it’s Lars). Ian tries to give Squire Badger his last rites but ends up pulling the knife out, putting it back in, flapping blood everywhere with his feathers, and sending Constance into a badger rage. Buck tries to help smooth over things, claiming his big screw up was a new style of avant garde church ritual (Ian appreciates the support--who ministers to the ministers, you know?) and in the process sees his knife for the first time. Which, you know. He obviously suspected before but never nice to see.

While this is going on, Daisy sneaks off to try and check on the secret door and everyone sees her do it/eventually follows her but we’ll get back to her once we check in with Lars who is en route to the kitchen. Once in the hallway, they do a perception check and, on a 15, there are 3 doors and Ally gets to pick one. There’s a kitchen where Gilfoyle is talking to a group, a door where someone is crying behind it, and a door where they can hear nothing. Ally, the galaxy brained genius, goes for the quiet door. That’s the money door and with their ears pressed against the door, they can hear Edwina and Carolyn--the two mice maids that overheard Buck’s conversation with the Badger--whispering about what happened there and wondering if they should pay back the money they were paid to by Buck.

Gilfoyle walks out and sees Lars snooping but on a Nat 20 deception check, Lars is able to play dumb and skate by suspiciousness. Also, with a dirty 20 perception check, when the mice maids leave, Lars sees that they’ve been stealing silverware. 

OK, back to Daisy who is getting to the séance room as quickly as possible. She has two rounds before people catch up to her so she’s trying to make the most of it by Investigating the painting she noticed was bolted to the wall earlier. She first rolls an 11, getting no new information. This is so frustrating to her. She’s good at this dammit! But being around Sly is rattling her terribly. She has feelings for him--strong ones. But she isn’t herself around him. How can she be with him if he makes her so unlike herself? Her introspection is enough to earn her advantage from Brennan on her second roll and boom! 25! Daisy is back. 

With that roll, she notices that the eyes in the painting actually move and can be used as a spying post on the other side. Then Sly runs in and they start bickering immediately. Daisy throws a crystal ball at him and absolutely brains him on a nat 20--the first combat roll of this very RP oriented season. 

Buck and Ian are still in the room with the body for the moment and Buck asks Ian about the first few names on the list Gangie gave him. There were a bunch of members of the Burrows family--a working class family that all died of a consumptive illness. And then the Diggories who died in a carriage accident. The connecting thread? All badgers. Buck then zooms away to follow Daisy, Ian follows, and Lars, seeing them as they leave the kitchens, also follows. 

So all the PCs are in the séance room now and they kinda have the sense of, “OK y’all, we’re all screwed but we’re al screwed together so we better throw our lot in with each other and start working together so we don’t die because no one else here is on our side.” Buck proposes an alliance and they all agree to share info. Sly asks about Buck’s knife and Buck admits it’s his but says he didn’t do it. Sly believes him--not because he wouldn’t do it but because he has no motive (that he knows about anyway. Buck doesn’t spill about the contract). 

Gangie shares the list of names from before with the whole group.It’s like half badgers and then some other critters (full list here). Sly doesn’t share any of his secret info Grant got texted. Daisy and Buck don’t share about the key (though Sly you’ll remember sat her steal it). Buck does however mention his suspicion about the fact that Gilfoyle wasn’t around when Squire Badger gave his speech and Daisy does the same about the fact that he said he would call the cops but the cops haven’t arrived yet. Lar’s remembers that Jez’s husband is gunning for at seat in parliament and wonders if this is related somehow. Daisy mentions the eyes in the painting and everyone is like way to bury the lede dude! Especially when they’ve just all spilled their secrets. Everyone checks on the painting and with a 25 Gangie can intuit that this is probably used to spy on rich people when they’re mid-séance and vulnerable and spilling secrets (which he doesn’t share but Daisy comes to a similar conclusion on her own). Buck on a 23 can smell ledgers (idk how but the DM said so and I’m reporting it) and guesses that that’s where the Squire’s real office is which means that’s probably where the contract he needs to find and destroy is too. 

 The group makes a list of their loose ends which are what’s on the other side of the painting, what’s up with Fletcher, and the smell of ozone. Plus Ian remembers that the date on the bust in the study is wrong and shares with the class. 

Lars tries to get to the other side of the room by ripping the painting off the hinges with a very impressive 26 but there is fully a wall behind it and the noise brings Gilfoyle, Harding, and the Badger kids running. Lars notes that in the stone behind the painting it says “⅓”  and then hurriedly puts the painting back. Daisy thinks that might refer to a secret third floor or basement accessible by the elevator (but my first thought was that there were 2 other spying paintings in the house somewhere).

Everyone in the room hears the Gilfoyle and co. coming and try to act natural. There is a group stealth check that they all tank so heavily that all the suspicious staff and kids need to do to suss them out is roll above a 5.

AND THEY ROLL A TWO. 

With that, Lucretia appears, totally buys that they’re doing very important spiritual work in there, and in fact guards the door for them. They use the privacy bought by their very vigilant sentry to plan their next steps. Sly, Daisy, and Ian will check out the study while they rest of them check out the elevator. As they exit, Lucretia asks if they got the answers they needed out of the spirits.

Oh yes, says Daisy, echoing Lucretia’s nonsense prediction from last episode. Either something good or bad might happen. Either way, I’m excited! 

Case Notes

How baller of a player move is it to say a line so poignant that the DM is forced to let you roll with advantage? I have been on the other side of that as the DM and it’s so great. MAD respect to Rekha for that. AND THEN THE DICE COOPERATED. You simply love to see it. 

The other best Rekha line is Daisy to Sly upon being called out about stealing the key in his normal, coy, quippy way: You saw me bitch.

Shout out to Grant also for being constantly on as Sly. The guy is on point always. Impeccable.

I am SO SO SO happy Daisy and Sly are on the same mission team. If I was friends with either of them I’d be like, “This is a toxic relationship, they make you too crazy.” But as an outside viewer I want them to be within crystal ball throwing distance always.  

The question I’m sure we’re all asking: Is Brennan enough of a minx to invoke the butler did it trope? I know everyone at the table is thinking it even if none of them have said it outright. I figured the reason the cops haven’t showed up yet was the storm but who knows?

Two pieces of housekeeping, only Buck and Gangie know what the room behind the painting is with their high rolls and, after the bit of passing it back and forth with Buck, Daisy has the key. 

I really can’t do the bit about Gangie’s mom justice. I wish there was a comedy Emmy for actual play DnD shows so D20 could get the accolades it deserves just for that bit. 

Brennan indicated that the conversation between the mice maids was the most interesting info (Gilfoyle convo to staff was too public to be juicy/they could get the info from one of the many gathered staff people and crying is info on its own--though I am curious about who the crying person was) but I’m wondering what he meant by that. Because the fact that Buck paid them might be interesting if Buck did it. But we know he didn’t. Is it the fact that they were in the room at all? Again, info that the party knows if not Lars specifically.  The fact that they were stealing silverware? What’s Brennan’s game here?

[billpardy]

Moss Update!

Hey y’all! Sorry I haven’t posted an update to Moss’s story yet! We are two sessions in to our playthrough of The Curse of Strahd, and it’s pretty awesome so far! Moss’s animal companion, the beehive, has so far been the heaviest hitter in all of our combat so far, which is hilarious! She got very drunk in our second session, hence the doodle. She forgot she was three feet tall and chugged a bunch of wine and failed her constitution roll. It was SUPER funny. 

To see the post where I explain her concept and introduce her, click this link

I’ve also finalized her backstory (if people are interested, I can post it as well? Slash I also have summaries of the story thus far if people are interested? Let me know?) and also the system by which her bee swarm loses bees/regains bees with health! So if you want to know how you can use a swarm of bees as a companion or familiar in DnD 5e, keep reading! 

Bee mechanics under the cut cuz it’s kinda long!

Bee Mechanics: Moss’s animal companion is technically just the queen, Titania, but Titania commands the rest of the hive, and so they obey Moss (and communicate by dancing! Moss dances back lol)

Honeybees, which is what Moss keeps, have drones that stay in the hive and build and maintain, feed babies, serve the queen, etc, and then they have guard bees/gatherer drones that leave the hive (this is sort of an oversimplification, but roll with it). 

The swarm of bees uses the standard Swarm of Insects stat block to start with (though the swarm CAN be healed), and is improved as Moss levels (using the Ranger Beastmaster Conclave from the Unearthed Arcana revision).

The guard bees are what acts as Moss’s swarm for combat, and there is one bee per hp that the swarm has, with Titania, the queen, being the final hit point of the swarm. So the loss of one hit point equals the loss of one bee. At the end of a combat encounter, if the swarm can be healed at all, either by Moss or others, I do not count those bees as lost. They get healed and are alive again (I would have to come up with far too many bee names if I didn’t do this). However, any hit points not recovered counts as lost bees. If the swarm ever loses ALL hit points and dies, then the queen dies, and I would either have to resurrect, or spend time finding a new queen, as dictated by the mechanics in the UA guide for Beastmasters. 

As the ranger levels, the swarm’s hp increases, and this counts as new bees being added to the swarm from the hive.

For roleplay purposes, I decided it was important for all the bees to have names, and for the losses to be recorded. The bees are like family to Moss, and she would remember their sacrifice and honor that. Naming them makes each loss matter deeply, and I quickly found myself getting attached even as I was still naming them. Moss tends to name the bees based on her surroundings or things that have happened recently in her life. After our first session, when I gained some new bees, I actually let our party help name some of them too, which was really fun! Lots of bee puns lol

To make the loss system fair and random (so I can’t try to save my favorites) I have all the current bees on a numbered list. When losses occur, I use a random number generator to determine which bees have died, unless say, it was specified through rp which ones were killed (that’s happened once already, but it was outside of combat). The queen cannot be the one killed unless the rest of the swarm is downed first. She is always the final hit point (because otherwise you could randomly just lose your whole familiar, which would be stupid).

I think I covered everything, but if I missed something or if you have questions, feel free to send me an ask. If you wind up using this, please let me know! I’d love to hear how it works for you!

My starting lineup of bees is listed in my first post about Moss (link above the readmore), but here is my current bee squad (as of level 5):

Titania (Queen), Fyreen, Hawk, Bumble, Mothsilk, Marievous, Stabitha, Fang, Eline, Daisy, Cowslip, Grumpy, Lovenip, Belle, Bitey, Spark, Fizz, Wolf, Vengeance (named after a jackass npc killed Clover and Thistle), Lily, Bee Arthur, Lester Bee Pearson, Larva, Diamond, Glitter, Beeyonce, Beeelzebub, Rob Zombee, Fluffy, Knees, Lucky, Gidget, Torch, Grave, Vine, Scruffy

The Fallen:

Winter (felled in first wolf encounter)

Vania (felled in first wolf encounter)

Maple (felled in first wolf encounter)

Clover (killed when scouting after the messenger)

Thistle (killed when scouting after the first messenger)

Puck (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

Fuzzbin (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

Spite (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

The rest of the Party: 

Moss (Goblin Ranger)

Troibant (Human Cleric who Moss likes very much because he’s very kind and healed her bees after she lost nearly the whole swarm in the first combat)

Ulsh the One-Eyed (Elderly Half-Orc Druid who Moss thinks is a very large goblin and absolutely idolizes because she can turn into a bear)

Zarvroth Gorthid (Blue Dragonborn Fighter with one arm. Very serious and intimidating, but also seems very honest)

A female human monk whose name I forget but her player sadly quit so she died after our first combat

Shadow (Gnome uhhhh... I have no idea what class he is, but he joined us in the second session and he’s either an Arcane Trickster Rogue or a Warlock? idk Moss almost hated him because he set a bunch of her bees on fire by accident with a turret, but he healed them later, so she’s forgiven him)

Let me know if you want to know more about this campaign! I really wanna write about what’s going on and it’s a super fun story! Curse of Strahd is a really cool module, and I’m loving it so far. I’ve been driving everyone up the wall with bee puns which I know they secretly love ;P

Moss has made friends with a lot of the npcs, and tends to be the party member who rushes in to things first. Unless it’s combat lol Then she’s way at the back, providing support with her longbow and trying to not get hit

[dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt]

Take 2... ODD NUMBERS

Em you absolute MADWOMAN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU X’D X’D

THIS IS GONNA BE ALL THE ODD NUMBERS FROM THIS POST (feel free to still send even ones in pFFFFffffFFFt) so I’m putting it under the cut!! Gonna be looong!! If you wanna learn random stuff about The Matt, click read more. :P

1.if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Read: Bird by Crystal Chan. Watch: Sense8. Listen to: this song.

3.three songs that you connect with right now.

this - this - this

5.have you taken someones virginity?

Nope. Not… yet? XD

7.if you could, would you take back your last kiss?

Haven’t had a proper one yet, unfortunately.

9.what was the last concert you saw?

Never been to one, too much noise and flashing lights and people = complete sensory overload and panic attack. Cinemas are bad enough. XD BUT I would be pretty tempted to see Coldplay live!!

11.do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?

Sweet Cheesus yes please.

13.a song you’d listen to during soft/slow/passionate sex?

this :D jk jk if it was somebody I rlly cared about it would be my favourite song probably

15.do you want to have kids? How many?

*hYsTeRiCaL lAuGhTeR* buddy I can barely take care of my own impulsive ass let alone a kid. But I’m never one to say never, so… I really don’t know. I’m not gonna be the one getting knocked up though, so adoption or… something else, depending on my eventual partner’s gender.

17.do you miss anyone from your past?

Yes. The two people I really miss though were slowly killing me so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ better off!!

19.have you ever broken someone’s heart?

I sure hope not! D:

21.have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?

1) Haven’t had one yet :’) 2) I really really hope I never make them cry, I’ll never intend to. D’:

23.favourite weather?

A nice, cloudy, kinda chilly day with steady rain.

25.do you wanna get married?

Honestly I really don’t mind either way so it’ll depend 100% on my partner. If they want to, sure!! If they don’t, I won’t care. I do have this thing though where I tend to pass out if I stand still for a long amount of time so that’ll be… interesting. X’D my only thing will be that I want the ring bearer to be either dressed up as a Hobbit or to be a v good dog so those are my only conditions to marriage 😂😂😂

27.what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

Frodo reaction memes. X’D

29.what’s your favorite pasta dish?

Ravioli is pretty hecking good! I’m getting back into pasta recently, I never used to like it bc we used to have gluten pasta and it made me feel sick. But now I can find out which pastas I like!!! :’DDDDD

31.what’s your favorite eye color?

Blue eyes are stunning. It’s funny, my Mum has blue eyes and I’m so bitter that I didn’t inherit them. :((( But rlly all eye colours can be super pretty!!

33.are you a morning person?

Yes in the fact that I LOVE mornings. I can be grumpy first thing sometimes when I’m still half asleep but I get really happy and energetic from overtiredness lmao quickly!! :DDDD

35.what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

My boots. I’ve had them forever and I don’t own any other shoes, apart from some runners that are still practically brand new bc I never wear them. XD

37.tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

Okay so normally when I’m awake at 3AM it’s one of 3 scenarios: 1) I got fixated on something and don’t know how much time has passed, or 2) my insomnia has flared up yet again and I am this close to having a mental breakdown because I’m so tired, or 3) I got overtired and now act pretty much drunk and have too much energy to go to sleep. One time I sent Enna three separate rambly stupid asks about her OCs and I was so tired that the next morning I remembered I sent them but I couldn’t remember anything I said. She was super sweet about it. The end. X’D

39.who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

My Dad. We both love the stars. We were also talking about Pokemon and DND. XD

41.do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

I don’t particularly like it, I prefer just downloading songs now. Mainly because I don’t like a lot of songs from the same band and buying a whole CD or record just for ONE song that I like on it is… meh. XD The last one I bought was an Ed Sheeran CD and it was for my mum.

43.what are your favorite memes of the year so far

I haven’t found any yet that really grab me, we’ll see. X’D

45.what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

I got my Dad a One Direction calendar once. We both hated One Direction. (When the cashier gave 12-year-old me that kind of ‘stupid teenaged girl in love with a boy band’ look I stared right back at her and told her with a straight face we were going to light it on fire. I’ve never seen anyone look so pleasantly surprised in my entire life.) My Dad loooved it. X’DI asked my Dad for a toothpick a week before my birthday once and he didn’t have one. Guess what my “present” was that year. Guess. XD

47.describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

V tol and thoughtful and pretty and talented and nice and spams me and sends me pics of cute dogs occasionally. 11/10 good fren, would befren again. :’)

49.is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Yup. Should be writing 2 things and maybe doing something else but idk if I should do the thing or not so. Procrastination it is. :))))

51.what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Any mutual of mine who just sends me nice messages or asks me stuff warms my heart so much. And anyone who has ever shown interest in my OCs has my eternal gratitude, if y’all ever need a kidney you caN HAVE MINE.

53.what’s some of your favorite album art?

Literally anything Coldplay has ever had ever.

55.do you like concept albums? which ones?

They sound pretty cool but I don’t think I have any favourites…?? Idk.

57.list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

This one (This one. This one.

59.what do you do when you’re sad?

Isolate myself + throw love at my online friends so hopefully they don’t feel like I do. Also drink warm drinks and reading and spending time with my pets bc they always help.

61.what was the best (non-romantic) night you’ve had?

I read this as sex thing wooPS. X’D Best non-romantic night I’ve ever had.. hmm… the night we got our German Shepherd. It was Good Friday. We’d finally gotten our puppy. We stayed up super late watching her toddle around and fall asleep on us. One of my absolute favourite memories. :’D

63.what’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

“You will only find your special someone when you are perfectly happy with the idea of being single forever. You can only be in a comfortable and loving relationship with somebody else when you are in a comfortable and loving relationship with yourself.”

65.what’s your secret dream?

Be in a Marvel movie one day. ^-^” oof

67.three songs that remind you of the person who sends this one

The only things that come to mind are P!nk songs ASDFGHJKL XD

69.three last songs you listened to

Pffft the songs I put on this thing X’D

71.have you ever had a friends with benefits?

Nope but I’d be open to the idea! (i may even have plans with one fren lmao)

73.Is there anyone you would die for?

My family (friends included), my pets, what’s right: if the world could be magically fixed but I had to die I’d do it on the spot.

75.do you give out second chances too easily?

I used to. But then I used up all my second chances on people who didn’t deserve them. Normally if somebody really seriously hurts me, I give them one more chance and make it very clear for them to please not do that particular thing again. Everyone makes mistakes, I get that. But if they do that exact same thing again, I’m normally gone. I’m done with waiting around and getting hurt over and over just to “be a good friend.” That’s not being a friend, that’s being a doormat/punching bag.

77.is this year the best year of your life?

So far, nope. We’ll see though!!! :DDDDD

79.who/what was your last dream about?

I think it was about Shameless?? I heard there was a trans character so I watched just those clips and I think I dreamt about it. X’D

Thank you so much for asking, Em!! ^____^

[secretadventuresociety]

Episode 31 Recap

Get hype, SASholes! I’m Bren, resident SAStorian and manic goblin dream girl. Welcome to Episode 31: A Long Day’s End.

A Challenger Approaches!

With Mother (hopefully) vanquished and Kerti’s whereabouts unknown, our heroes hear fleeting whispers of ‘they’re coming, she’s coming’ whistling in the icy wind flowing through the cave. Sharing a Let’s-Put-A-Pin-In-That glance, the trio check in with each other because-- lest we forget-- they have just survived a run-in with an evil being who was masquerading as Kü’s mom. Sorry, did I say run-in? I meant battle for their lives. Anywho! They all seem to be physically unscathed, though that emotional trauma will last forever. IYKYK. Kü, of course, is the most affected, though his worries go straight to Kess, who Mother had just tried to strangle and not in the sexy way. Pearce attempts to make light of the situation by telling Kü it couldn’t have been too bad because Kess didn’t black out and see her friend, Ashe.

Which, speaking OF ash, the group starts smelling smoke. All of their combined hackles raise-- each probably thinking of a different entity. They really do be running into a lot of fire-related individuals, so this makes sense. When they actually SEE physical evidence of smoke trailing from further in the tunnel, they realize they might not be alone in this cave. Pearce elects Kü to lead them to the source, stating that he has darkvision and that will be to their tactical advantage. I mean, true, but this is also the helmetless kobold who just lost his ‘mother’ for the second time. I’m begging SOMEONE to give him a break. God, Lathander, DM, anyone?? As they go deeper, however, thin sheets of ice on the ceiling seem to be letting blue-tinted morning sunlight in. This literally lightens the mood until they come to a ledge-- one set up with a VERY recent campsite.

The party can tell right away that this is where the smoke has originated from, and looking closer, they spot a figure. A DANCING figure. What appears to be a four foot tall, staff wielding, gymnast built, olive skinned, winged individual is currently stirring an alluring pot of food while having the best time of his life. Understandably afraid, Kü attempts to summon his Blight Bow-- and nothing happens. Instead, he and Pearce decide to ambush the stranger, one going to the left of him and the other going right. Kü is spotted, and in defense, he grabs a broken liquor bottle (that he has been holding onto since the BEGINNING of this campaign, y’all), and chucks it at the head of his presumed assailant. In this instant, everyone braces for a fight, INCLUDING our guest star, Pongu, played by the fantastic Sonny-- who fans may recognize from the Hollaback Charity&D stream!

The Three Mardostateers

Kess instinctively heals herself as she notices her companions go into a fighting stance; having stayed away from the ledge. She was sure the humanoid meant no harm, but it’s hard to preach benefit of the doubt with a hotheaded gunslinger and a manipulated kobold. Instead of retaliating, Pongu tries to diffuse the situation. He laughs off the projectile Kü hurled and tells the group that they didn’t have to throw things if they wanted food; he has plenty to share. It’s then that the exhausted and hungry group smells the bounty for the first time. It is heavy with spices and looks like some sort of chunky soup. As we all know, food is the way to the heart, and apparently to the trust bone, too. Kess joins our apprehensive duo and the trauma of the past two days comes tumbling out of them.

Pongu listens intently, and when they’re done, calls over a beautiful, starry owl (named Nalani) over to him.  Kü startles, having instant predator flashbacks. With a smile, the fairy tells his companion that this group needs some extra love, to which the creature replies (only to Pongu himself) that they both have a lot to give. Pongu notices Kü’s changed attitude and requests that the owl take some time away from camp to reform himself into something less intimidating, like a cat. The kobold relaxes as the animal leaves, and Kess changes the subject. She begins to question Pongu about his presence in the cave-- and mentions that she thought it belonged to someone she knew. Pongu assures her that he is just passing through, and had chosen the cave to take respite in.

The fairy goes on to explain that he is from the Feywild, and that he has been searching all over-- sailing the seas-- and winding up on the material plane for the ingredients for a perfect fey wedding cake. He used to be an adventurer long ago-- now at an estimated 300+ years of age-- but now is a professional chef and ‘fixer of things’. This draws Kü’s interest, and he wonders aloud if Pongu might be able to repair his mother’s skulll-- but quickly has this hope dashed when Pongu asks if the kobold has all of the pieces. Pearce, feeling Kü’s disappointment, offers to go back and see if there’s anything left, but is denied. Having gotten Pongu’s life story, the group feels the need to share as well. They first attempt to lie (except for Kess) and say their names are Uk and Ferdinand [I will let you guys which one is which] and that they are all three from Mardosta. The truth quickly comes out, however, and Pongu takes it in stride, excitedly asking if Kess (the true Mardostan native) can get him rare spices from the area.

A Lesson in Bonding

Taking a moment for herself, Kess separates from the group and goes to the neighboring hot spring. She discards some of her clothing and jumps in-- drifting to the bottom. Once she reaches the soil there, the druid draws on her inner power and grows a flower. It is still black with a white iris, but the floret adapts to its watery surroundings-- taking on an aquatic formation. Kess takes no time to marvel at it, instead using the rest of her depleting energy to focus on the plant and attempts to contact Ashe. After a bit, she realizes there isn’t going to be a response. So, the changeling flips off the bloom and pushes herself to the surface, dressing once more and cursing under her breath.

In Kess’ absence, Pearce and Kü warn Pongu about Skugamor and give him a head’s up about Kerti (who we really haven’t gotten to know yet). The gunslinger sighs and half-heartedly complains that everyone has voices in their heads except for him. The fairy listens gratefully while taking out a Santa-Claus-worthy bag of toys to keep his hands busy. He explains that he likes to fix up old toys and give them new homes-- and Kü asks if he has a paddleball related plaything. Pongu brightly hands him a Bilboque (I really didn’t want to write cup-and-ball. But you guys made me anyway. Good job) and  takes to it instantly. 

Sensing how worn out the adventurers are, Pongu casts Tiny Hut, creating a dome with a starry ceiling and a light scent of flowers swirling through the air. Pearce sees Kess step into the space and he greets her, hugging her to him as she spirals in a panic attack. He tells her that everything is going to be okay, and that he feels that is true because he has not been this comfortable anywhere but Mardosta. The contact soothes the changeling, and she steps back from Pearce and truly looks at him for the first time after their ordeal. Her eyes widen at the state of his hair; and the gunslinger grabs his things to run to the hot spring himself to shower. Pongu stops him, saying that he thinks he could fix the dirty, snow-wet mess, and Pearce relents. The fairy uses Shape Water as a kind of gel to mold the unruly locks-- and when Kess lets Pearce check it in the shine of her canteen, the gunslinger huffs off; happy with his look but pissed that he has nothing to be pissed about.

Look at the Stars

Using his misplaced anger as motivation, Pearce begins to craft more bullets for Iris from the components he purchased at the Night Market. He ends up making fifteen functional bullets, only wasting one defective try at the beginning of the process. The gunslinger thinks of his father and how Pearce used to watch him go through the same activity, and the fire of his rage is stoked by the realization that he actually learned something from the deadbeat. What was it that Smash Mouth said? When the hits start coming they don’t stop coming? Whatever it was, I’m THERE in this DnD stream. Someone make them stop.

As Pearce is artificing the daddy issues away, Kü tries to bring his Blight Bow out one more time. When it still doesn’t happen, the kobold admits to Kess that he has Good News and Bad News. The good news is that he believes Mother to be truly gone, and the bad news is that this means that his powers seem to be gone. Kess reassures him that they’ll figure things out; and Kü distracts himself by catching Pongu up on their exploits so far-- from Evercrest’s dying king to the vampires of New Hexton. The kobold then switches gears and asks the fairy about his parents-- with whom Pongu seems to have a semi-okay relationship. Kü tells him that he’s just trying to feel out where his trauma is-- and that he wants him to be as broken as he is. Big ouch.

Kess takes over at that point, trying to explain LifeWell water to their new friend. A combination of exhaustion and frustration overwhelms her in the middle of it, however, so she excuses herself to sleep it off. She ends up under a constellation of a scorpion, and Pongu suggests to Pearce that he choose one that meant something to him to watch over him as he slept. The gunslinger curls up underneath an arrow (yes, weapons are soothing, just ask my barbarian) and  Kü doesn’t even bother looking up-- as soon as his head hits the floor, he drifts off into a deep rest. Pongu watches over them for the four hours they stay unconscious, making them a special (giving them ingame boosts!) bready treat. When they wake up, Kess eats hers and Pearce tosses Kü his-- who catches it deftly in his waiting maw. They take in Pongu now making pancakes for the group, and realize they have some decisions to make.

Case Closed

After throwing out their veritable to-do list, Pearce bangs the butt of his gun against the cave floor, commanding the attention of the other three speakers. He makes an executive decision that they should all go check on the Shadowmore family. They have no idea if they are still safe from Skugamor, and Kess needs to speak with them before they either stay for the Mardosta ball or move on to their next task. The Nobodies look toward Pongu, gauging his interest in joining them for a time. The fairy packs up the leftover food from the night before-- leaving a note that anyone who comes by it is welcome to it-- and agrees to travel with the trio. Kess warns Kü before she shifts back into her owl form, which turns out to be large enough to carry her humanoid companions. 

They make a long, cold flight back-- and all seems quiet at the Shadowmore manor. The group makes their way to the fourth floor (you remember, the PARENT wing) and finds it empty. Searching frantically, they finally see them standing in the greenhouse, marvelling over Kess’ new and hydraulic flower. Norse turns around and exclaims her thankfulness for her daughter’s safety, counting the number of still-alive-friends with her, and greets the sunny newcomer. OMG. Did you see what I did there? Sunny cause Pongu is a literal ray of light but also-- Sonny?? His player?! That was COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL! WITNESS ME! Fine. I digress. The party catches the elder Shadowmores up to speed just before Brienne, our lovely tabaxi detective, strides into the greenhouse. Pongu introduces himself as Brienne looks over him curiously, and the investigator sighs, grateful that she doesn’t have to question yet another for Xarus’ murder. Hearing of this foul play for the first time, the fairy looks over to his new friends and says, “There’s a lot of death around you three, huh?” 

The Nobodies stammer in unison, attempting to laugh off this outburst. Brienne pays it no mind, pushing forward to ask to speak with the group. She tells them that Xarus was found with poison in his system, and had a snapped neck-- probably from strangulation. The tabaxi had spoken with onlookers at the Underfrost as well as the cooking staff at the Shadowmore estate, who both told her that they experienced a similar phenomenon with shadow magic. It’s then that they come clean, handing the detective the page on Skugamor (which Brienne RIGHTFULLY chides Kess for stealing) and Kü recounts his almost-lifelong-ordeal under her influence. With a small, conspiratorial smile-- Brienne concludes that Xarus’ death must have been a suicide. She tells the group that if they did not take care of Skugamor that she would be unable to protect them-- but if the entity was really and truly gone, she was more than happy to close the case. She bids them farewell, and as they all let loose a breath they didn’t know they were holding (hello, YA roots) and Pongu smiles widely at them. He professes that he will be there for this courageous party until they no longer need him.

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TL;DR

Give a BIG SAShole welcome to Pongu and Sonny! You can find him on Twitter: @SonnyPlays and tell him Bren sent ya!

Wait, where’s my starry owlcat!? How do you pspspspsps a fey being?!

Things are looking up for the Nobodies. Be a shame if something happened...

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Don’t Pearce your pants in anticipation, but you can catch the next session over at twitch.tv/lochness on September 22nd at 7:30CST/8:30EST! If you’d like to watch THIS episode, follow the link below:

https://youtu.be/pXQxmi9dGbg