#my best lich buddy

[psalacanthea]

hes ready, r u?

[z3ny44]

Spoilers for Fionna and Cake Finale Double Episode Post

-Alright, episode 9 started of with a scare! That nightmare really seemed real for a second, and Marshall looked like Shoko when she fell into the radioactive river....

Thank god it was a dream honestly, but the main even of this episode... The Lich begging for Golb to acknowledge his achievements, his success in ending all life on his reality, only to be denied of any form of gratification and to be stripped of his own reason and turned into a tetris block...

I really liked this bit, I think Fionna and Cake had the best moments of Lich alongside his speech in the Citadel episode. His expression, his posture, his rage alongside his struggle... How can a character so inherently impossible to kill, be absolutely finished by no more than a look from the one whom he called his scholar.

Also Simon kicked him that's funny,, poor Jerry

And Now, from the 1000+ years Ooo, we get to see Shermy and Beth again! They are vandalizing Gibbon's kingdom, that, in case you don't remember or don't know, he's the son of Charlie (Jake's daughter that played Card Wars)

I really like 1000+ years Ooo. In a way its cozy but at the same time uncanny cuz you really don't know anyone... (I mean Marcy and PB are canonically alive but still they only appear in the Come Along with Me Intro) I wish it was a miniseries itself!!! Simon got TP'd to Shermy's head and still is trying to find a crown. They went to the library which is now ruled by the paper guys, and a robot in a turtle shell? uh,,, okay?

And yeah basically the Scarab is back cuz Ellis P freed them,,, bruh.

-LAST EPISODE FFS PAWN SWAN IS CANON WOOO

Okay but in all seriousness, the episode continued F&C dealing with the Scarab, and they just threw him all the guys that he imprisoned, which shows us what we already had a feeling since he caught Kheirosiphon: the Scarab just caught outlaw, independently if they are good or bad, most of these guys are reformed and have started a new life... he's just so shitty... like, look at these little Big guy :')

Anyways, to get done with the F&C story, basically Prismo tp's the Peppermint tank, alongside with Jay, little Destiny and BABY FINN!! WHICH IS HUGE?! Finn is going to grow up in Fionna's universe, and if the series continues, we might even see a normal world grew up Finn (with grew up I mean like 15, lol) ALSO WE SEE TIFFANY

Simon's side on the other hand,,, jeez I feel like I was synced with Simon in a way that I never really acknowledged Betty's sacrifice... She really did put everything on the side to be with Simon, and for his happiness.... not that it went by unnoticed, but it bugs me to think... what if they did it differently? What if he went on the trip with Betty... I mean to be fair we have the answer... he dies to vampires a couple years after, but how was the time he spent with Betty? What did they change? How did they change and grew even if it did not last forever....

and if you think that this was the part that hit the hardest... buddy..

Yeah,,, I think Betty isn't even there anymore, this was a goodbye... It wasn't explained but I think it was implied that she is gone... That Golb is back to his normal form... i don't know if this will have repercussions in the future? Maybe reform Lich and fuse with him?! I'm just throwing random ideas at this point.

-Final Opinion: This series was amazing, I'm always happy to have more Adventure Time content, it being my main artistic inspiration makes it so much more fantastic to see new characters, places and stories. It was definitely the best mini series so far. The funniest, the most interesting, and the prettiest visually. The epilogue was so heartwarming, Fionna being able to talk with Simon via sms, he's having therapy with Minerva, and PRISMO! Prismo now has the Scarab with him in the Time Room, they are going to make stories together hehe.

(also there was a frame in which prismo's head was flipped? idk if it was an error wtf)

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

My OCs Majour Historical Figures

Part 3 of my world building posts! I'm gonna arrange these guys in order of their importance to the Plot™, and how much I dote on them.

So, without further ado,

The Godhuntress, Ina

She's literally my PFP :)

Lived: 2000-4050AC

Height: 3.5m (11'6 for Americans)

Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Angel of Nature (her halo is just flowers)

Was completely loyal to the Gods until her husband got killed for abandoning his post to pluck some flowers for her

Then she went completely apeshit and genocided the gods

Possessed a secret Voidic ritual to drain magic from others, which gave her the power to defeat the Gods

Killed her daughter, Isobel, in a fit of rage after Iz tried to stop her from killing the last goddess, the Goddess of Dreams, who was just a child

Massacred the Fae, elves, and forest spirits

Jumped into the Void out of grief when she realised she had become a monster like the gods (see it here)

Speaks like she came out of the bible

Basically the biggest deity in modern Triworld

Been living rent free in my head since I was 6

2. The Spirit Emperor, Hans-el

Obsessive midgeted psycho

Lived: 3595- AC

Height: 130cm/4'3 (145/4'9 in his high shoes)

Pronouns: He/Him (caps included)

Race: Forest Spirit

Has an everlasting grudge against Ina for killing his best friend, the Goddess of Dreams, in front of him

Knows her power ritual because he saw her do it, and used it to gain enough power to become Emperor for vengeance

After she died, he set all the souls of the gods free for the heck of it

Like Ina, is power-corrupt and evil. Unlike her, he doesn't give a shit about it

Bastard has his little fingers in every bit of the Plot™

No seriously, if the story's set after Ina, it's events are probably his fault

You'll find him cameoing as either Hans or just 'the spirit'

Will murder you if you call him short (he is, even by spirit standards)

Inexplicably in love with Hash

3. Hash Brown

Nobody knows her real name

Lived: 1998- AC

Height: ? (145/4'9 in his favourite form)

Pronouns: she/he (and never it)

Race: Shapeshifter

Possibly the oldest being alive in Modern Triworld, not that she'd let anyone know it

Wears an elf body because that's what she pretended to be during the Runic Wars

Goes by Hash Brown because the Lich-Queen said it would be cool, and he's possibly forgotten his own name by this point

Actually pretty smart but pretends to be a ditz

Pathological trickster who feels bad getting people in trouble

Moved into Hans' castle one day, became his partner in crime (and everything else) and never left

Feels bad for deserting his people during the Ruinic War (cos he couldn't accept genociding humanity) and as such looks after the remaining shapeshifters

Drinking buddies with the Luxatian Exorcists, who all actually believe she's an elf

Fakes an incredibly strong Paliodaen accent

Secretly, deep within his heart, a good person

4. The Lich-Queen, Iraela Foundling

Cracker of bad quips

Lived: 2800-4003

Height: 165cm/5'5

Race: Human turned Lich

Found in the End of the World along with her sister, Ramaeria, and brought into Ceredellian Royal society

She showed no powers so she stayed hidden away while her sister, an Oracle, danced with nobles

Met and fell in love with a minor duke

When she discovered she was a necromancer of epic proportions, she tore Ceredell apart and remade it into the Deadlands

Has a god-awful inferiority complex and deep rooted jealousy

Still somehow trying to live up to her dead sister's image

Cannot stop cracking jokes at the worst possible timing

Thought it was funny to tell a young shifter to name himself Hashbrown

Main proponent of the Ruinic War, because she hates humanity (she doesn't want to be reminded that she was one)

Bonus: Luna Iverius Delacroix, Mind-mage

Absolute tech boomer

Age: 6012-

Height: 150cm

Race: Human

Actually pretty important to the Plot™

Main character syndrome in every meaning of the word

Make-up fiend

Ran away from home at age 11 and made herself a cult of personality

Cannot drive, cook, use a phone or take care of herself

Insanely lazy, but skilled enough at magic to make up for it

Does not know the meaning of playing fair

Neither booksmart nor streetsmart, but a secret third option (not smart)

By the way, all the images were made on picrew.me ! Go check it out, it's super fun to play with!

[pixelgrotto]

D&D Deconstruction, via Goblins

Around the end of last year I made the decision to get into Goblin Slayer, and I've now gone through every chapter of the manga released in English, including all of the spin-offs. I've also skimmed parts of the light novels and anime, and I even did a readthrough of the Goblin Slayer roleplaying game with my buddy Daniel of Asians Represent, mostly to see how well it translated bits and pieces of Sword World, the most popular fantasy TTRPG in Japan.

In short, I know the franchise well by this point, and I like it, which is not what I expected. In fact, I steered clear of Goblin Slayer for years because of its reputation. If you're unaware, when the anime adaptation came out in 2018, it turned heads for depicting sexual violence in the very first episode. Basically, newbie adventurers go down into a dungeon, attempt to fight some goblins, and suffer terrible consequences, with the women of the party facing the sort of fate you might expect. It's a plot point intended to communicate to the viewer how awful goblins are in this world, and it also offers justification for the titular Goblin Slayer to show up on the scene to save the only survivor, Priestess. Goblin Slayer kills all of the goblins responsible for the attack, and he even goes the extra mile to unearth a hiding spot of goblin children. When Priestess shows some reservations at slaughtering kids, Goblin Slayer remarks that there's no such thing as a good goblin before stomping the little ones to bits.

In case you didn't know, Goblin Slayer is based on Kumo Kagyu's Dungeons & Dragons adventures. There's probably some influence sneaking in from Sword World, Tunnels & Trolls, and Wizardry, since those are the often-cited building blocks of Western fantasy tropes in Japan, but D&D is definitely at the forefront of the recipe. And knowing that Goblin Slayer evolved from D&D is what made me want to read it. (Well, that and the main character's armor design - dare I say that GobSlayer possesses one of the simplest yet coolest armors in all of existence.)

However, when I run D&D myself, I always say that all three of the things that this franchise begins with (bioessentialism, sexual violence, and violence against kids) are off-limits. So why does Goblin Slayer get a begrudging pass from me?

It's probably because I see the series as a meta analysis of D&D, right down to the tendency of most Dungeon Masters to get needlessly edgy with their campaign story arcs. Put another way, this is a 3.5e campaign where the star player has min/maxed himself around only one thing: the best possible build required to kill goblins. He's somehow managed to gain 15 levels by doing this, and he comes up with incredible battle strategies that the rest of his party quickly fall in line with. Every time I see GobSlayer pull off some ridiculous tactic to take down a foe, like the time when he links a portal scroll to the bottom of the ocean and proceeds to unleash the raging tides of the sea against an ogre, I can't help but shake my head and mutter to myself, "Damn, that's cool."

Then there's the more obvious fan service. And I don't mean "fan service" in the sense of pantsu shots or big boobed femmes, though Goblin Slayer does have a lot of that. (Hi, Cow Girl, childhood friend of the main character.) No, I'm talking about the fantasy roleplaying fan service. For instance, GobSlayer and his buddies fight creatures out of every edition of the Monster Manual. There are obviously goblins up the wazoo, but you can also expect beholders, drow, liches, oni, and even a mythologically-accurate tarasque, which shows up in Goblin Slayer: Year One.

There’s also a dungeon crawling aspect as GobSlayer and his party systematically plan out their roles and tactics everytime they delve into a hole in the ground. There's constant talk of who needs to be in the "frontline" and "backline," which are terms right out of Sword World, and Dwarf Shaman and Priestess are often chatting about how they can only use their spells a select number of times a day, which is that Vancian magic we all know and love/hate. Dai Katana, a franchise prequel that tells the story of a samurai and his comrades, outright feels like Etrian Odyssey in how it systemically shows the party tackling a megadungeon level by level, mapping as they go. (This does get repetitive over time, and I liked Dai Katana the least out of all the Goblin Slayer spinoffs. The characters have cool designs though, especially the mantis-like myrmidon dude.)

Finally, there's the idea that GobSlayer's realm, the Four-Cornered World, is a literal four-cornered game board lorded over by "gods" who are just enjoying a cosmic tabletop campaign. The more you read, the more this becomes clear. Everyone's referred to by their class or job titles rather than their names, after all, and a major arc in Year One involves GobSlayer assisting a mage who wants to enter the realm of the gods and "travel beyond the game board." After the pair ascend to the top of a seemingly endless tower (I do dig a reverse dungeon crawl that goes skyward rather than downwards), the mage disappears as her role in the campaign narrative that the "gods" have developed presumably ends. And last but not least, GobSlayer himself is constantly referred to as an average miniature on the battle map who somehow took on a life of his own by surviving whatever threats the cosmic GMs tossed at him. "He does not let anyone roll the dice," the tagline for the franchise goes.

I love all of this stuff. Maybe I'm giving Goblin Slayer too much credit, but I see this series as a deconstruction of what it means to sit at a table and imagine lives and stories for a diverse cast of characters, riffing off of fantasy concepts first assembled by Gary Gygax and his contemporaries back in the 70s. I can't be that off-base with this assumption, seeing as how characters in Goblin Slayer regularly "curse Gygax" when stuff goes wrong.

But just as Gary Gygax had questionable views when it came to a wide variety of things (like women, for instance), Goblin Slayer's got icky bits that can't be swept under the rug. This is a franchise that depicts female victims in titillating poses when they’re being abused. Goblin Slayer isn't alone in this regard - plenty of other seinen manga exhibit this nasty habit, including fan-favorites like Berserk - but it feels all the more annoying here because Goblin Slayer presents its assault scenes mostly at the very beginning for the sheer sake of shock value. As the series goes on, sexual violence disappears from the narrative almost entirely, as if Kumo Kagyu and his collaborators realized that it shouldn't have been emphasized in the first place. Instead, we're left with an interesting tale about GobSlayer moving through trauma (his family was killed by goblins when he was a kid, you see) and slowly learning how to feel again as he surrounds himself with the found family that is an RPG party. That's a good story, and a heartwarming one. Unfortunately, it's buried under a veneer that will likely turn many away.

I can't blame anyone for noping out of Goblin Slayer due to the sexual violence. I also can't blame anyone who doesn't play TTRPGs for not fully understanding the appeal of witnessing GobSlayer and his buddies strategize about the best way to defeat hobgoblins. But personally speaking, Goblin Slayer hit me in some good places, warts and all. I was fully prepared to write the franchise off as grimdark schlock, but it surprised me - and after reading up on some of its contemporaries, like Redo of Healer (which really is schlock) I'm further convinced that the series is smarter than it appears. It's just a shame that the smart bits are held back by the same problematic tropes that often cause D&D itself to falter. (Remember that whole orc discourse from 2020?)

For better or for worse, Goblin Slayer is representative of all sides of traditional tabletop roleplaying: the critical successes that celebrate imagination and comraderie, the critical failures that dehumanize women and veer too far into edgelord territory, and everything in between. The franchise has its problems, for sure, but there are moments when it shines - just like the glint of a well-painted miniature resting on the edge of a four-cornered game board.

[ego-osbourne]

Cat Sanguine

//click for better image quality//

My buddy @liches-covered-in-lich has a lovely lovely gorgeous little lady (Masha the cat) and he sent this amazing picture of her. I got the idea to draw Sam in the same way. This is the best thing I’ve done. (hair extra fluffy to match her)

[horus-unofficial]

Hey, Bones Anon here: so me and my co-pilot managed to fix the issue that came as a result of the soul vessel reconstitution by the inventive use of their time split system.

But health problem solving for my fellow Lich pilots out there isn't what I'm here for. This may be out of your wheelhouse but are there any IPS-N licenses that you'd recommend me splicing into my Lich so me and my buddy and install a Briareos framework and hopefully reduce the amount of emergency soul vessel jumps in our future.

hardpoint reinforcement off caliban II will make your mech more resilient if you take care to avoid situations where its mobility is restricted which is. not strictly the most optimal setback to have as a lich, but its not the worst thing you can do for your functionality. otherwise look into kidd and lancaster licenses, when youre looking for system compatibility across manufacturers researching mechs that share the same class (support in your case) as the one you pilot is basically always the best place to start

[holdmecloser-gandydancer]

20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @room-on-broom (thank you!!)

tagging @barry-j-blupjeans @ceilingfan5 @noodyl-blasstal @anistarrose and anyone else who'd like to!!

1. How many works do you have on A03?

23!!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

192,336 which feels insane to me!!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Basically just the adventure zone and then I have also been writing some stuff for various ttrpg characters of my own!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Say it with Flours, The Only One On Your A.M. Radio, Some of my best friends are liches, Take it like a Man, and is it too late to say it's not what it looks like?

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to!! I just like interacting with people who like the stuff I make, especially when they're kind enough to comment!!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

So all of my bigger fics tend not to have mega angsty endings, but there's that one ficlet I wrote about the twins and hair dye that is just angst city

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending Probably say it with flours!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

One guy once got big mad about starblaster lanes because he thought the setting was stupid and that John hunger (who was a throwaway, nonnamed character in the fic) was ooc and that the twins were too mean. like, buddy I don't think we listened to the same podcast, they can be little shits

9. Do you write smut?

As of RHAPAW, I do! it's not like, my most favorite thing to write (not because I don't like it, I just don't think I'm super good at it)

10. Do you write crossovers?

no, but when I was in junior high I had a grand plan for this like. mega cross over fic that involved characters from Hannibal, welcome to night vale, doctor who, supernatural, h*rry p*tter, and also sherlock. the plot was nonexistent but I remember that Hannibal was going to be like. the new professor at the private school everyone attended together

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so!

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

yes and no? so I have like. a fic in progress with larissa that I don't think either of us have touched in months, and then Hali and I have put Something Bigger Than The Sky on indefinite hiatus. but also so much of my process just involves talking back and forth for hours so they usually feel pretty collaborative by the end

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

like. It’s blupjeans it Has to be blupjeans. I was really into Amy and rory pond when I was younger and that just primed me for blupjeans

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

so I dont necessarily like assuming I won't finish a fic ever but the ones that are lowest on my priority are the warlock taakitz thing and then my resurrection roadtrip (simply because I Know that one will be big and it feels daunting)

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at getting into a character's head and writing a truthful internal monologue and good dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

actually moving the damn plot along and pacing

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've never done it because I know one (1) language but I think it's neat when other people do it!!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the hunger games! I was intent on writing Annie Cresta's games BY HAND during study hall in seventh grade

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

It has to be RHAPAW, right? like it was SUCH a big effort but it's my baby :3

[deathvalleyqueen]

going through old screenshots cleaning things up I forgot I made my another one of my DnD characters... so I am just going to ramble about her for a bit cuz she makes me happy. (longish, mostly just me rambling with screenshots.)

While I am 85% sure the save file is gone to the void... but Morrigan in the DnD game is my Gravelord Sorc (a necromancer sorc) who technically isn't mostly alive. Her best friend is a Ghoul she summoned at when she 5 and she came into her magic. His name is Steve - in the game he is a less evil Durge Butler... kinda lol. They play games, Steve is kinda the comic relief for the party which for the game which really is a dark game - is much needed. She is spooky girl, but with a heart of freaking gold.

She is an indoor kid, who doesn't have friends and speaks to dead people. She is more of a summoner than a typical glass cannon. Though she has a love for a good fireball.

She is technically a tiefling with a Shader-Kai mom, her father is a tiefling. These are characters my friend and I played as a couple (Shadow Sorc/Grave Cleric, Spirits Bard/Undying Warlock) that were on a villain arc NGL so when he started a campaign he asked if he could use them as villains and I asked if I could make Morrigan.

Her lore is pretty sad ngl, like her parents basically created her through dark magic. She has no idea about the outside world or how to people. She is the baby of the party at only 20 years old. Morrigan met the party as she was running away from her mom who wanted her to do some profane ritual to make her into a monster more or less... it's some dark stuff. Her parents aren't the main villains of the story, but they are ones they are going to have to face. She is much closer with her dad, who pops up and is actually chill with the party at this point. They are cute... and their story is gonna be so sad from the bits my DM buddy has let me in on to emotionally prepare myself.

Morrigan is going to have an artifact (think vestiges of divergence vibes - all the characters in the game have them) that more or less gives her levels in Undying Warlock. Between this and the stuff she gets from the homebrew subclass, we found her, she gonna be very hard to keep down Lich with domain and control over the undead. We keep joking between ourselves she is gonna be The Raven Queen of his world - or rather has the potential to be. As in the campaign, we played her parents - the whole side thing we did to amuse ourselves was try to have them ascend to godhood - because the game was otherwise very boring. We amassed an obscene amount of wealth, started a cult, owned an Air Ship, 2 warships... like what was left other than to become gods. However, for Morrigan, it's less of a desire and more she has no choice to seek the power to save the world.

She honestly is one of the most fun characters in a DnD game I have played because she is genuinely a very sweet person despite being someone who on paper should be a horrible monster. She doesn't see the undead as anything more than people and spirits. She thanks the creatures she summons for their help. She is more afraid of the living than the dead because the living have hurt her, her undead "friends" have only helped her. She tries really hard to be a good person by her standards - even when she suggests things like hunting down criminals so she can raise an undead crew for her ship so they could "Save gold and help people". She doesn't really understand her powers and thinks they make her evil because people never really wanted to help her before she met the party. Like really she is slowly becoming the heart of the party, which was not what I had planned for her. She was gonna be a goofball who could summon meat shields.

She had been in the background for a while as we all play 2 characters (small group, hard game needing a large party) in the game and i just wasn't enjoying a war cleric - I normally enjoy a Grave Cleric but was tired of playing the same cleric subclass. My other DnD character my Durge OC is loosely based on is from the same game and they are interesting contrasts. T'alice is a barb/rogue powerhouse and uses anger as her defense to cope with honestly some horrible things and is a self-loathing demigod who has no patience for Gods and their games. Morrigan was raised in a cult where her mother was viewed as their god, she uses humor as her main defense and she is blissfully unaware of a lot of the danger she faces. Tali is jaded... Morrigan is naive. The irony of it all to me is Morrigan would be considered of the two the morally good character, while Tali is honestly a little closer to evil but it's a the road to hell is paved with good intentions and bad rolls situations.

^ DnD accurate Tali btw. I did an honor run and was taken out in Grimforge.

I didn't do it on purpose but even their looks contrast each other. Tali is a Drow, dark dresses dark, has pretty short hair with an undercut in the picture. Where is Morrigan is pale... deathly so... with white hair, still dresses dark (cuz that's just a me thing) but is about a foot shoter than Tali and looks like a strong wind should take her down.

They are honestly my two favorite DnD characters, and honestly two of my favorite characters i have ever created and playing them both in the same game is treat really. Sounds chaotic - is, but so much fun.

[saturn-noctua]

Troubling news in the land of playing dnd with my pals

Yesterday was the “season finale” and the city we were all in was leveled by the following: a dragon brought by Twigg, a frost giant, the mini god imprisoned in Twiggs scythe (now freed by Twigg), a fascist who is now a god, and a lich. All at the same time mind you.

Everyone fled to the feywilds but Voski got left behind because he tripped and missed the portal.

Voskiroche tried to kill Twigg and failed immediately and spectacularly, disintegrated by the lich who is also Twiggs buddy. Frejas mom, who it turns out is actually a goddess, died but was revived, so she’s a mortal now and also in a coma. And Twiggs scythe friend is also Frejas dad!

Voskis cat, Weevil, is being taken care of by Rhozk in Frejas moms castle. But no one knows yet that Voski is never coming back and Rhozk keeps saying stuff like “I sure hope my best friend Voski is ok over there :(“

Everyone wants Twigg dead now

[keybladeselkie]

Pokemon, A DnD journey.

A few years ago I was messing around with concepts to replay Pokemon Firered and wanted to try something different. At the time one of my dnd buddies wanted to doodle something cute for a charmander lying on a pile of gold named Smaug. Then it hit me. I asked for her permission to borrow the name of the charmander and decided a small challenge for myself.

Making a Pokémon team themed around Dnd monsters and classes.

I named the male protagonist, Hiro as a wordplay for Hero and named the rival, Lu or short for Lich.

Then it became a running theme up until Pokemon Sword and Shield came out. I might go back and try again with the latest games if this becomes popular or if I just feel like it.

I even wrote down all of the Pokémon I used on my main teams throughout the games with their names, natures, and personalities with little quirks I added to spice up the story. Even imagined the Pokemon to speak and everything. No, this wasn’t a nuzlocke but it was still a fun challenge for me gameplay wise and story wise.

Here is the first chapter of the Firered play through, enjoy!

Chapter One: A Boy and his Dragon.

Life in Pallet Town was simple and rather bland for the residents of this quaint town. That is unless you were becoming ten and starting to begin your journey as a Pokémon trainer. Young Hiro Fukuda was about to get his starter Pokémon and be on his way to starting his journey. However he wasn’t going to get his starter from the Professor like normal kids, he was going to get his first Pokémon from his family.

Hiro’s father eagerly awaited for the day that his son would carry on the Fukuda legacy and grow up to become a strong trainer just like him. His mother though nervous was supportive of her son’s future and gladly helped Hiro pack up for his journey.

Once everything was settled, Hiro’s parents sat the boy down with a pokeball on the table. The boy beams brightly as he stares at the pokeball with excitement in his eyes as he carefully grabs the ball and presses the button. And then a bright red beam would appear before the family before morphing shapes until the light begins to fade. Revealing a bright orange salamander with a small ember on it’s tail.

“A charmander! Awesome!” The boy cheers as he jumps up to his feet and reaches out to pet the salamander. A faint startled noise escapes the tiny lizard as he reels back a bit before calming down as Hiro begins to softly pet him on the head. “Awww, looks like you two are becoming fast friends already.” Hiro’s mom coos as she takes out a camera.

Hiro’s father chuckles warmly as he watches the adorable scene and shakes his head at his wife. “One picture dear, we shouldn’t keep them from starting their journey.” The father hums before turning to his son. “Any idea what you’re going to name him, Hiro?”

Hiro blinks as he pauses with petting his new buddy before tilting his head in thought. “Hmm…How about…Smaug? Like Smog but better sounding and it has character.”

“Perfect.” Hiro’s father chuckles once more in amusement before they all heard a faint *click* sound. Hiro’s mother beaming with pride as she shakes the Polaroid with reckless abandonment before gently blowing at it. “You can say that again.”

Hiro snickers as he looks to his parents before down to his new companion and smiles brightly. “Ready to get going Smaug?” Smaug with his new name looks up to Hiro eagerly before bobbing his head yes.

“You best be careful out there okay?” His mother pouts as she leans over the coffee table to gift her son a warm hug. “I will, I promise.” Hiro reassures while returning the hug.

“Oh, and tell Lu we said hi. Though I do hope the poor dear is doing well..” Hiro’s mother gives another pout while resting a hand on her cheek. “They haven’t been the same since their parents passed away..”

Hiro dips his head in a somber manner as he looks down to his partner Pokémon. “Yeah…I haven’t seen them in a while. I do hope they’re okay.”

“Well if you see them, tell them that our door is always opened and that they are welcomed to stay for dinner.” Hiro’s father nods, reaching for his glasses and book. “You be safe out there and make us proud.”

As if almost like magic, the boy shakes off the sadness looming over him. “I will, thanks guys! Love you!” He calls out before scooping up Smaug in his arms, dashing out the door.

Eagerly rushing out to begin his journey, young Hiro did not know what fate would await him. What tales to be told?

To be continued.

[ultraericthered]

Random Thoughts On Emperor Belos

Just.....Emperor Belos, real name Philip Wittebane. 

I still remember in the Summer of 2020 when this guy finally made his first in-person appearance on the show. He looked creepy, had this cool “Church of Satan” aesthetic going on, and his voice acting was sinister enough to sell him as a menacing presence. But that was just Part 1 of the Season 1 finale. After Part 2, we had a more detailed look at the Emperor, what he was like, what he was about, and what he seemed to be planning. And I can very much recall my exact feelings on him after the season had wrapped up, which was:

I honestly do NOT care about this “Emperor Belos” character that they’re selling to me. Came out of nowhere to ban wild magic and show everyone on the Isles the “proper way” of witchcraft, created the coven system, can hear the voice of the Titan and inform the masses of its will, is the biggest, baddest, most powerful witch of them all, has it out for the good guys and also wants to construct a doorway to Earth, bla bla bla generic spooky evil bad guy stuff. Nothing about that dude interests me...because I see all too clearly that there’s a man behind the curtain. Emperor Belos is but a veil concealing this man, a role that he’s performing and using in order to decieve everyone into following him, fearing him, or just going into a useful complacency. It’s what we don’t know that intruges me here. This is someone with much to hide, his own true self included, and that true self is the one I’m interested in learning more about...

And boy oh boy has Season 2 EVER FUCKING DELIVERED. Philip is exactly what I anticipated and wanted to see, a character who exists beneath the false cover of Emperor Belos who you learn more about with each new episode to feature the character. Peeling back all the layers of Belos gets you closer and closer to seeing who he truly is. What I did not anticipate was how truly fucking vile and genuinely horrifying on a very personal level this individual would be exposed as with each new layer peeled back. Every new detail learned about Philip almost gives you reason to feel for him before the knife twists and you end up with more reasons to dread and despise the man. Every new bit of backstory and facet to who he is as a character makes Philip Wittebane much, much, much scarier than the initial facade of Emperor Belos cover story ever was, and it all comes down to a single detail - he’s human. He’s not truly a witch, he’s not a demon, he’s not a robot or some puppet of the Titan, he’s not even a naturally born Lich. The greatest monster on this show (aside from his creepy buddy the Collector, that is)...is a mere man.

He’s the first major “cult leader” type of antagonist I’ve seen from something out of Disney since Xemnas from the Kingdom Hearts series. He’s like Judge Frollo if he was unrestrained by 90 minute runtime and shot for an even higher body count (his past with his brother also calls to mind Frollo’s with his own brother in the stage show), like Fire Lord Ozai if he was actually fleshed out as a human character beyond his monstrous villainy, like Ghetsis in that....well, like Ghetsis! And he serves as a great contrast with the other shockingly dark and heinous Disney TV villain on at the same time, King Andrias, as whereas Andrias shows his true self at all times and is prone to being comedic, Belos conceals himself and is played dead seriously with very little mirth or whimsy. And they are both two of the best animated villains to grace the small screen in years.

[sgrumby]

see I always thought barry doesn't have magic when the century starts, just because he's the lab dude. like, yeah, he can absolutely tell you how magic works, but he's selected for the mission as science officer. I know Griffin and canon don't agree, but it doesn't make sense in my mind that he's both the world's foremost scientist and a genius arcanist. Plus, it explains why Lup jumps into her role as lab buddy, because if she's the magic officer, or arcanist, or whatever her job title is, obviously she's gonna be working closely with the science officer! It ties in to his arc, too, because they learn from each other - an exchange and combination of his science and her magic, a metaphor for the relationship they'll eventually build!

It's the same for Lucretia and Davenport, but Lucretia especially. She's 20, and an extremely accomplished biographer - how has she possibly become one of the foremost mages on the plane as well? Davenport I could be swayed on, because he's older, but I still don't necessarily buy that the world's best pilot also learns to be an expert illusionist. (And, in fact, canon agrees with me on this one - Davenport only masters illusion magic in the same cycle that Lup and Barry become liches.)

Tldr; these people aren't selected for their magic, they're chosen for other talents - Barry and science, Lucretia and chronicling, Davenport and piloting - and so it doesn't necessarily make sense that they're also expert mages, no matter what canon says. (maybe they have some magic, but that's a different post)

[windlion]

Malevolent podcast screamalong, Part 4!

When last we left off, I felt like I was watching a talk show where they pulled out the paternity test in front of the audience and then the screaming started.

Just. maybe more Ai Ai Ftaghn screaming here than high-octave outrage

Maybe.

Oh hey we're still hand in unlovable hand in the hell vacation world. "We"

Deeply fraught conversation time! On the black shore of a lake lit by violet like an off-color sunset. Where's my fanart at. You can put John in the reflection of the water, even!

"You found humanity" "I found the absence of you"

"I've changed, baby, you've got to believe me"

backed up by a "LET HIM TRY" *applauds* All right, that's compelling!

"Only the blood is still wet" "NEVERMIND THEN I'll be going!" "Yes that's probably for the best"

Huh, I guess Goth!Shelob fits in here, her camo isn't that bad after all

Arthur was a boyscout!

Is that, perhaps, an eye in the sky. Many different eyes in the sky.

And more of the visual fucking with John's perception

"Two appear before me" *That* is interesting~

"Here take this King in Yellow's egg surely it wouldn't be a bad thing"

Would you consider NOT pissing off the Angry Ent?

Arthur buddy you do not know when to shut up

Oooh skittery legs- rest of the Goth Shelobs?

Oh not Shelobs, Nightstalkers, cool cool cool

"Only when I'm out of options, same as anyone else" XD XD XD

Ohhh hey it was a duet on the piano

Awwww co-dependency

OH OKAY that changed topics rapidly

Has anyone considered using the MacGuffin y'know instead?!

Ohhhhhh please please please don't Not A Fan Of This

NOPE NOPE NOPE

bonding through sharing a little self-mutilation What the Actuuuual Fuck

NOPE NOPE NOPE

"I am here"

Ohhhhh that's a nope nope nope nope nope

That definitely uh, puts a spin on what the fuck the trader did. It traded.

Time to shift realms!

And now you remember the MacGuffin!

Arthur are you now wondering if you're being narcissistic "Is it you or just more of . . . me"

Arthur all "This is just temporary we're still going to split eventually" and John all "Mrrrrrrrrr" Sorry, John, you've had longer to get attached.

Are y'all gonna jump down the chute/hole just because it's in front of you, again

"Wonderful, let's leave" I am with you on that one!

"You know we don't HAVE to kill everything" *side-eyes*

*eyebrow raised* Y'all can't get five minutes without drama

This is part of why I would appreciate time-skips, because it would give time for things to marinate so it feels more natural

Are you sure that's a person and not a scarecrow

Or a kite???

Your charisma score is abysmal isn't it

Arthur my dude you are DEEPLY emotionally unbalanced

I like these guys, lichs are a lot less perturbing than anything else we've hit

Black Goat's minions are more polite than most

Okay Arthur made one charisma save, amazing!

"Are you ready?" "Unrelentingly" *SNORT*

Ahh plot threads at last

"You still need mortal things, right. Right?" ". . . Maybe"

I love that it's unsure if Arthur is just being a stubborn driven little shit or if he might actually be sliding even more sideways from human

And break before episode 15, because I should actually accomplish things today in addition to backseat driving this man's eldritch trashfire romance.

[brazenautomaton]

Fixing Afterlives: The Maw, First Visit

So our Shadowlands journey starts with the Maw. You know what? People hate this scenario now because you can’t skip it and have to go through it on every character, but the first time through, this is actually really good. You’re kicking in the gates of Hell with a platoon of Death Knights and then everything goes tits-up and you don’t have a beachhead and you’re lost and wandering and there are awful, awful things everywhere and you’re hiding and isolated and need to learn how to escape. You just need the option to skip it on your alts.

Plus the aesthetics of the Maw are great. They sell what it is -- the hostile architecture, sinister crystal formations, the way everything seems swept and shaped by a windstream of souls. We’ve seen plenty of environments that look like a Hell of flames. This is a Hell of pure suffering. Pain is what lives here. Pain is all that enters and pain is all that is produced. It’s only after you went farming Stygia for a while that the pain gets inflicted on you.

So we assemble the crew, get the exposition while we put together the Helm of Domination, get given a portal stone to establish a beachhead, and we bust in to find the four captives: Anduin, Jaina, Baine, Thrall. We rally the Death Knights into enough of a formation to make it in and find the evidence of Jaina, and I like that, I like how you track her by the huge formations of ice -- it shows you her power and the mark she leaves. Finding her is mostly the same although her dialogue is less generic and content-free (from now on assume I apply this caveat to all dialogue). She’s more confused and disoriented and even though she’s fighting it’s with a resignation that she knows it won’t work and she’s starting to think she’s only hurting herself by trying. She acts like she has been there for years. But you say you and the DKs are here to save her and she follows against her better judgment and agrees to try and find Thrall, who she struggles to remember, but seems to be trying very hard to be able to remember.

Then the Mawsworn Kyrian show up and laugh about her hopelessness, and you fight them. And they kill the shit out of you. 

More and more and more of them keep coming and they’re level 60 when you’re level 50 and if you do some bullshit to survive eventually one of them will grab you by the neck to Silence you, lift you into the air, and do the ol’ Val’Kyr Special and fatally drop you. You unavoidably die.

This is necessary early to establish what dying in the Shadowlands means. Play a special graphic effect when the player dies, something more drawn out and grasping. Play a sound effect appropriate to race/gender of the PC of them struggling against great pain and gasping. Then you appear next to a Spirit Healer (yes normally in the Maw you just respawn alive so you have to pick up your Stygia like in Dark Souls, we’ll explain the discrepancy later), a Mawsworn Spirit Healer, who says “No. Your suffering will not end. The Maw claims you.” and then starts to chase you the fuck down with a bunch of shades. You need to run, as a ghost, to claw your way back into your body. Obviously, if the shades catch you, you get dragged back to the start and the Spirit Healer fucks with you a bit. 

Your body has been dragged over to the area where Jaina and the rest are hiding; they fled while you were being merced. Jaina sees you stir. And she says “I’m sorry, champion. Death is no respite here. It is so hard to fight the pull… I struggle to even remember my body when I try to return.”

Jaina has been brutally killed over a dozen times. This is not her first rodeo. This is not her first escape attempt. This is not the first time she’s killed that particular Mawsworn tormenter whose name I don’t recall. It doesn’t end. It never ends. She doesn’t know why she tries any more, when she knows it will fail and she will die and suffer and claw her way back to her flesh and every time it gets harder and harder. All it buys her is the ability to offer futile resistance and maybe that isn’t even worth it.

Mood: established.

From there it goes mostly the same. You try to pump the shades for info about how to escape and they don’t know, they can’t know, they can’t even want to escape. The info you get is a memory of spitefully hating someone who fled to the waystone. You rescue your buddies. You see the Jailer fuck up Baine, only instead of giving him a spirit poison, he fucking snaps the dude like a Kit-Kat and drops his lifeless corpse, and you drag it to safety. You don’t need to find a poison dagger to counteract the spirit poison; you need to keep him safe and clear a path for his spirit to flee back to his body. Thus reinforcing what the danger here is and how it’s different and what they fear.

And while you do this, at some point, you run into Sylvanas. Maybe she just walks up to you while you’re all collected around Baine trying to help him revive. Since the Jailer won’t be saying “it’s not like you won anything b-b-baka, it was just a temporary setback,” you need to establish that feeling that he views your victories as completely meaningless. Sylvanas knows you’re here saving Baine. So does the Jailer. It does not matter. You cannot accomplish anything. 

Thrall kills her dead. She just gets back up. She has an escort for her soul to go back to her body. “How many times are you going to try that before you learn it’s futile? Come now, Thrall. I know you’re smarter than this. I know you respected me more than this.”

And then stuff like “How could you do this, Sylvanas? How could you betray the Horde?” Thrall is incredibly angry and offended at her. He thought he knew her. “Neither of us had any illusions you were not a monster, Banshee Queen. But I trusted you anyway because I knew you wanted what was best for your people. You were a monster, but a loyal one. How can you now turn your back on what little principle you had?” Sylvanas is hurt by this, but she doesn’t linger on it.

Jaina, however, is desperately trying to flatter her. Do this to sell the kind of impact this has had on Jaina, and what this suffering drives her to. “Please, Sylvanas. I know you were my enemy but you were an honorable one. It isn’t too late. Someone as cunning as you must know that this will end in ruin. I promise… I promise… I will surrender if you let me return. Kul Tiras will become servants of the Forsaken. Just, just let them live… please, you could rule our world, not slaughter it…”

Jaina breaks down in tears. Yes, she just tried to surrender her people to the enemy for mercy. Jaina is breaking. All of them will. The Maw is a Bad Place and makes them give up hope. That’s how we sell the threat. Not by making the enemies bigger or spikier, showing how they have broken these heroes. Less screaming anger. More pain.

Sylvanas scoffs at her offer. “It doesn’t matter where your people’s loyalty lies, Lord Admiral.” And then she says the phrase that will become a motif: “Nobody escapes the Maw.” She leaves. She doesn’t care what you do. It doesn’t matter.

But you have to still hold on to that sliver of hope that maybe the waystone is a way out. So you get Baine up and you sneak past this big-ass Maw army that can fuck 31 flavors of your day up. The jailer notices you and sends out a force to stop you at the waystone, and he repeats the phrase when he sends out the order: “Nobody escapes the Maw.”

So there’s the event, you fight off the army while the waystone charges, the army gets bigger and bigger, the charge meter gets stuck at 90%, you go to kick it and it teleports you to Oribos.

The mob descends on the other captives. Sylvanas and the Jailer look completely unconcerned with your escape. After having clearly seen you physically leave the Maw, Sylvanas brushes it off with “Nobody escapes the Maw.” Dun-DUNNN! Cutscene end.

You appear in Oribos. The Protectors stop you because you stink like the Maw and what the hell dude, yada yada. This is when you get a tour of the city, here’s the profession trainers, the bank, the transmog. Only secondary details need to be changed here. One, this is an instanced version of the city where no other players exist (you are the first one there, nobody else is). Two, Lich King Bolvar (hashtag #notmylichking) arrives from Azeroth and says SOMETHING to justify other players coming from the Maw but being less important than you. Something like, he saw what you did, there are other adventurers from Azeroth still in the Maw, his DKs are hunkering down in defensive positions and will try to make their way to the Waystone once it cools off because you already activated it, since you are the more special one, and there might be a chance that a couple others might have an echo of your power because they have had similar adventures. You are the True Maw Walker, and the context of the massively multiplayer element is “for your story, all those other guys have shitty Maw Walker powers that only work once you opened the pickle jar for them.” They can’t bring passengers, either.

Third, not the most importantly but yes the most importantly, if you are Forsaken or a Death Knight or Mechagnome or whatever you get a special dialogue where you say “Why do you keep calling me a ‘living mortal’? I’m not alive. I’m undead / a machine / maybe something else like maybe I missed the fact that vulpera are made of rocks and string.”

So Tal-Inara or whoever can be like “Oh, THAT’S what that is. Something was odd about you, mortal, that I couldn’t quite place. I call you ‘living’ because your soul is still tethered to a body. To us in the Shadowlands, to be bound in a vessel like this is far more important than the nature of the vessel itself.” That’s why people keep calling you “living”, to them you’re easy to mistake for one.

Kyrian in the Maw is disturbing news, and also WEIRD, because as Tal-Inara reminds us, “Nobody escapes the Maw.” Why would the Kyrian go down there when they can’t come back? It is terrible but not unheard of for mortals to try and speak to the Jailer but they never GO there because they can’t get out. And yet Sylvanas just walked in there? And he is mustering armies? Better go to Bastion and find out what is up. Let’s crank open this gateway, and...

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

Trahearne/Riannoc O_o

I can't currently find it (edit: I found it!), but there is absolutely a datamined audio file of Trahearne saying the following lines:

Trahearne: The Grove should feel like home for me, but it doesn't. It never has. I started necromancy for my Wyld Hunt, to fight the corruption infecting Orr. My choice didn't win me any friends. Caithe's the only one who ever seems genuinely happy to see me.

We also have this dialogue, from the sylvari level 30 storyline:

Trahearne: Ah, Riannoc, I warned you - told you not to go alone. But you did not listen. We were all so confident. So unafraid of death…

Player: You told him not to go?

Trahearne: I did. But he would not listen. He said that Mazdak was too great an evil to leave unchallenged.

I know a lot of people ship Trahearne/Riannoc. (I don't, but hey.) We know very little about Riannoc and they and Caithe had strikingly similar Wyld Hunts (Trahearne to cleanse Orr, Riannoc to kill Mazdak the Accursed, a Risen lich, and Caithe to kill Zhaitan). I imagine that these three were best buddies. (And also Faolain, I suppose, since she and Caithe were a thing at that time.)

But what if that didn't happen?! I mean, in the datamined dialogue, Trahearne could just be leaving out Riannoc because he's dead, or maybe that's why the dialogue didn't make it in-game, but what if.

CONCEPT:

Riannoc sees Trahearne learning necromancy as betrayal, as joining the enemy. Most liches are necromancers, you know. Riannoc is theorized to have been a Noon sylvari, and they tend to rush up and attack problems head-on. Riannoc, being so young, may just as easily not have understood Trahearne's studious, learn-your-enemy approach; and when Trahearne, who has already shown an interest in 'the dark arts,' told Riannoc not to go, or not alone, or wait - Riannoc could easily have taken that as Trahearne... falling away, turning from his path, and maybe he was gentle with Trahearne and just said "that Mazdak was too great an evil to leave unchallenged," OR he may have shouted it in Trahearne's face, accusing him of being friendly with Zhaitan, accusing him of conspiring and perhaps no better than Mazdak in the first place, before leaving.

Now, of course, come to think of it. This isn't necessarily in-compatible with a Trahearne/Riannoc pairing. (I mean, given Caithe and Faolain lasted for ages). But it's a very, very painful version of a Trahearne/Riannoc pairing.

Sorry not-sorry, if you're anything like me you'll fall all over that interpretation.

[dmsden]

Monster of the Month - the Githyanki

Hullo, Gentle Readers. This month’s Monster of the Month is one coming to you out of the depths of the Astral Plane. Everybody’s favorite astral pirates, the Githyanki, are here to say hi. As always, big thank you to my buddy Scott Fabianek for the art.

The Githyanki made their debut in the 1st edition Fiend Folio, and they weren’t shy about it. They took over the cover, swinging their silver swords around, and generally let everyone know that they were here to stay. Since then, they’ve gone from absolute villains to occasional anti-heroes, even being a playable race in 5E, thanks to Volo’s Guide to Monsters.

The core defining element of Githyanki history is their enslavement under mind flayer rule. They were likely similar to humans before this, but centuries of domination and experimentation are, ironically, likely what led to their psionic abilities. Led by a freedom fighter named Gith, this race rose up and slaughtered the mind flayers, and, to this day, they will hunt and kill mind flayers wherever they find them. There was a division in the race’s philosophies that led to the race dividing into the Githyanki and the Githzerai, and the Githyanki became, by far, the more warlike of the two.

Our baseline githyanki in 5e is the CR3 Githyanki Warrior. They are fairly straightforward melee combatants right up until the moment that you consider their psionic abilities. It’s not hard to imagine them casting nondetection every eight hours to make themselves impossible to scry or cast any other divinations spells on. This is likely something of a reflex, done before sleep, when getting up, and then halfway through the day. Likely, this evolved when they were fighting and hiding from the illithid. This will make it difficult for an adventuring party to know that they’re being stalked by githyanki raiders.

They’re lawful evil, so, even though they are pirates, they likely use certain formations and actions, aiding one another when necessary or possible. In a ship to ship battle, one can imagine Githyanki empowered by their psionic Jump leaping the gap from one ship to another. They can also misty step multiple times, which makes them a frighteningly mobile fighting group. The fact that they speak a pretty unique language means that orders could be barked out. A party thinking they have things well in hand could suddenly find the Githyanki they were fighting teleporting to gank their healers or mages in a unified attack.

I think the best use for these guys is in a party’s relatively early days. Githyanki sometimes spend time on the Material Plane for a variety of reasons. They may be striking to get supplies, tracking an illithid’s pet intellect devourer, or something similar. While it’s true that one reason they might be on the material plane is to guard a creche of young, letting them age off of the Astral Plane, I don’t necessarily recommend this as a reason to put them in conflict with a party of adventurers. If you do, the logical end-result is that the party will end up in an argument as to what to do with the now orphaned githyanki children.

The upgrade (and it’s a big one) is the CR8 Githyanki Knight. They have all the toys the Warrior does (although their attacks are, of course, more powerful), and they have several extras. They have plane shift and telekinesis each once per day. Plane shift is perfect for an extreme retreat or to try and take a dangerous opponent out of a fight (although that makes quite a headache for the DM, and the player isn’t likely to appreciate it). Telekinesis would be useful for throwing an opponent off of a ship, for pulling a target to them that they want closer in the fight, making the party’s melee-based rogue or ranger unhappy, etc.

The other two big upgrades a Githyanki Knight likely brings to the table are where things get really fun. The Knight’s Silver Sword is a magical +3 weapon in their hands that gives them a devastating attack to channel their psychic abilities into damage. In addition, these guys can be super scary to characters who are using the astral projection spell. If that silver sword crits, it’s an automatic kill on the player who gets hit.

The other element of a Githyanki Knight is that they’re likely to be partnered with a Young Red Dragon to ride. Even if these dragons aren’t yet legendary, they’re all kinds of awful for a party. The combination of a single githyanki knight and a young red dragon are a deadly encounter for a group of 5 10th level characters, and a hard one for 5 11th levels. Make it two of each, and they would be a hard challenge for 5 17th level characters...just about the time the party gets regular access to Astral Projection.

If you have access to Volo’s Guide to Monsters, there are more flavors of Githyanki for you to spice up your encounters. And you could even develop more if you wanted a Githyanki-based campaign. Maybe Vlaakith, the immortal lich queen who rules the githyanki, is having her warriors attack the material plane with greater and greater frequency. The campaign could concentrate on why this is, and it could constitute a mind flayer/githyanki war. Lower levels might involve Tiamat-worshipping kobolds stealing supplies (since there’s some kind of alliance between Tiamat and Vlaakith that allows the githyanki knights to ride red dragons.) As things progress, there could be various mind flayer related creatures like intellect devourers and umber hulks, perhaps neogi slavers who provide the mind flayers with their needed sustenance. Of course mind flayers themselves, githyanki, and red dragons. Githzerai allies might eventually step in, willing to aid against the mind flayers AND their ancestral kin. The campaign might ultimately confront Vlaakith, attempting to throw down the ruler of githyanki kind. That would be epic.

I hope this article made you think about including some githyanki oriented plot in your campaign. Next month, we’ll be looking at one of my favorite creepy Underdark critters - the Hook Horror. Until then, may all your 20s be natural.