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cake-chad · 4 months ago

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Find my sun in the dark side of my shadow

Fandom: Once Upon A Witchlight (Legends of Avantris)

Words: 4753

Warnings: Descriptions of blood and injury, this is a whump fic

Description: Torbek has a nightmare and winds up lashing out, injuring Gideon and Kremy fears for the worst

Read on Ao3

---

It's a peaceful night when Gideon wakes. For a few moments he lays there, staring up at the branches of the tall trees surrounding the small clearing where they had set up camp, faintly illuminated by the low glow of the embers of the campfire in the center as he tries to figure out what has awoken him.

He holds his breath, listening for any sign of movement and slowly scans his eyes across the clearing. Kremy sleeps in his usual spot, positioned between him and the campfire for maximum warmth. To the left of the campfire he sees Hootsie, wrapped around Gricko so only his feet are visible from underneath her fluff and feathers. To the right, Frost sleeps with his head propped on his backpack, arms folded tight across his chest with his robe draped over him.

Everyone seems to be deeply asleep, undisturbed by whatever had awoken him. It's odd. For years now he's been a heavy sleeper, especially since Carnival Lecroux, where he felt safe and secure amongst friends, and nothing short of a horn blown directly in his ear could wake him. What could have awoken him tonight?

He’s just about ready to settle back into sleep again when a noise from the opposite side of the campfire draws his attention, something shifting in the dirt with a distressed keening noise as he bolts upright.

He feels a stab of guilt as he realizes he has once again forgotten about Torbek. The bugbear is fidgeting in his sleep, his brow furrowed in distress as his lip peels back into a snarl. His fingers claw against the ground, as though he is weakly trying to drag himself across the ground in his sleep.

Gideon carefully pushes himself up, moving quietly to not disturbed anyone else as he makes his way around the campfire, dropping to his knees beside Torbek.

“Torbek? Come on man, wake up, you're having a nightmare,” he says gently. As he speaks, Torbeks movement only gets more frantic, his breath becoming heavy. Gideon reaches out a hand and places it on Torbeks shoulder, wary of the canisters on his back that start to hiss and bubble with magenta witchlight.

“Gid, be careful.”

Gideon glances over his shoulder to see Kremy sitting partly upright, balanced on his elbow as he rubs at one eye with his free hand.

“He's having a nightmare, Krem, I gotta try to get him out of it–”

He can't finish the thought as searing pain shoots through his torso, his breath knocked completely out of him with a groan as he's caught so completely off guard. He sees Kremy staring at him, his eyes wide as he stares at Gideons chest. Gideon slowly turns back towards Torbek, whose eyes are open and staring at him with glowing magenta and malice.

Gideons eyes drop and he stares down at Torbeks hand, where his fingers and claws have elongated and brutally stabbed into Gideons stomach. He drops his hand from Torbeks shoulder to his wrist, weakly gripping onto him as he looks back up at Torbeks face.

He faintly hears Kremy yell, though it sounds like he's miles away as he feels his energy draining. His vision starts to dim, but he sees the glow from Torbeks eyes flicker, a look of confusion crosses his face as the glow fades and he takes in what has happened, looks at his fingers embedded just under Gideons ribs, before the confusion turns to horror and panic.

“Torbek–” Gideon chokes out, trying to keep his grip on Torbeks wrist as the bugbear starts to pull against him, wrenching his blood drenched hand free before he turns and scrambles across the ground and off into the forest. Gideons hands fall to his sides, unable to even staunch the blood he can feel soaking into his shirt and down his stomach.

Kremy almost immediately notices when Gideon gets up and moves away, the loss of such a strong heat source enough to rouse him from his sleep. He rolls towards the low burning campfire, not as comfortable as Gids warmth, but better than sleeping in just the open air until he comes back to sleep.

The last thing Gideon is aware of is collapsing backwards, feeling Kremys arms catching him across his shoulders, and the terrified looks of the rest of his companions above him as he loses consciousness.

---

He's just about to close his eyes again as he sees Gideon kneel down and speak quietly to Torbek, goading him to wake up from his fitful sleep.

“Gid, be careful,” he warns, partially pushing himself up. He knows that Gideon knows exactly how bad of an idea it is to wake someone from a nightmare, especially someone who has been through what Torbek has.

Gideon is in the process of responding to him when Kremy sees Torbeks eyes snap open, light pouring out of them as the bugbear sits upright, and faster than Kremy can even comprehend, sinks his claws deep into Gideon’s lower chest. He can see the points of Torbeks claws poking through the back of Gideons shirt, glinting in red.

“NO!!” Kremy yells, unable to tear his eyes from Gideon’s, who blankly stares back at him. “Torbek, no!”

His yell immediately rouses the rest of the crew, snapping awake with a jolt, but he can't tear his eyes from Gideon or Torbek. The glow of Torbeks eyes flickers before eventually dimming and a look of distress crosses his face as he starts struggling to get out of Gideons grip, wrenching his hand free with a spurt of blood.

And then Torbek is gone, and Gideon is wavering on his knees, his hands dropping to the ground. Kremy scrambles across the campsite and manages to wrap his arms around Gideons shoulders just as he collapses, catching him against his chest. Gideons head lolls against his shoulder and he stares up at Kremy for a moment before his eyes roll back in his head and he goes limp in Kremys arms.

“Gid! No, come on man, you gotta stay with me,” he babbles, lightly slapping his cheeks. “Don't you dare leave me alone with these freaks, I need you, Gid!”

Frost falls to his knees on Gideon's other side, making quick work of his shirt, tearing the front of the thin shirt open with a claw. The wounds exposed made Kremy’s stomach roll, the blood seeping out was thin, flowing easier than it should’ve, with a slight magenta glow to it. Gideons chest rises and falls rapidly, gasping with a horrible wheeze from deep within.

“Gricko! Where are those fucking bananya’s,” he demands.

When he tears his eyes away from Gideon he can see Gricko is already going through the motions to summon the healing items, his hands suddenly overflowing with small bananas that he quickly mashes into a messy poultice.

“Krem-”

He snaps his attention back to Gideon as he wheezes out his name. “Gid! Oh my gods, hold on, we’re going to get you fixed up, okay? Just don’t move.”

The instructions come too late, as Gideon is already trying to raise his hand towards the wounds. Frost catches his wrist in a soft grip, keeping his hand away long enough that he can wipe the blood from the wounds. Gricko follows closely behind, smearing the poultice across them, pressing it into the torn flesh as much as he can. Gideon gasps as the two of them handle the wounds, his face twisting into a grimace as he throws his head back, pressing hard into Kremy’s shoulder, eyes clenched tight.

Kremy places his hand on the side of Gideons head, gently rubbing circles against his temple with his thumb. He can't look down, he can't watch as Gricko works on Gideons injuries, so he focuses on his face instead. Seeing him in pain makes his stomach turn, but he feels like if he looks at the wounds, he might actually snap. When Gideons manages to open his eyes again, they are half lidded and barely focused, vaguely staring back at him when he can as his awareness ebbs and flows. Every so often when he blinks, his eyes stay closed a little longer as his consciousness fades and then returns. Kremy fears that any time he closes his eyes, it might be for the last time.

Which wouldn’t be the first time he had thought about what he would do if he lost Gideon. Hells, it wasn’t even the tenth time. But those had been thoughts, hypotheticals. What ifs. Worst case scenarios that should never come to be.

The what ifs were supposed to just be that little voice of anxiety that rattles around in the back of his mind, able to be squashed behind a front of confidence, thoughts that are unable to manifest anything into the world. If they ever came to be, it should be years down the line. Maybe after they start turning grey with age, not now in the prime of their lives.

And yet here he is, kneeling in a clearing by a dying campfire, holding Gideon in his arms as he slips in and out of consciousness, choking on his own breath as pain courses through him. Completely helpless.

Even now he can't get that image out of his head, of Torbeks claws stabbed completely through Gideons torso.

“His back.” His voice comes out as almost a whisper. Frost looks at him with that intense gaze.

“What did you say, Kremy?”

“His back!” He says louder this time, frantic panic growing in his chest again. “Torbeks claws, they went all the way through!”

Even before he finishes, Frost and Gricko are already dragging Gideon out of his arms, turning him onto his shoulder as they lay him on the ground. Frost has a hand pressed to a strip of fabric covering the poultice on Gideons chest as Gricko uses what little of the mix he has left to cover the wounds on either side of Gideons spine.

It feels wrong to have his arms empty, he desperately wants to pick him back up again, keep him close as he can, while he can. That anxiety creeps up in the back of his mind again, what if Gricko’s healing isn’t enough?

He still can’t look at what Gricko is doing, focusing only on Gideons face and running his hand through his hair. Gids eyes are closed, his face lax as his head rests against the dirt.

“Come on, Gid. I need you to wake up,” he finds himself whispering aloud. He's got both his hands tangled in Gideon's hair now as he leans over him, desperately begging him to wake up!!

Gideons brow tightens and he gasps as Gricko is now pushing another bandage against his back and Gideon blindly searches for something with his hand. Trying to shoo Gricko away, perhaps? Kremy catches Gideons hand in his and immediately Gideon is squeezing his hand as tightly as he can, pulling it towards his face where he presses the back of Kremy’s hand against his cheek.

He can feel dampness, tears that he hadn't noticed before at the corner of Gideons eye and tenderly wipes them away. Gideons breath catches in his throat as he groans and Kremy can almost feel the bones in his hand grinding against each other with how tightly Gideon clutches on to him.

“Gricko…” Kremy mutters, an unspoken warning in his voice.

“Trying me best here, Kremy.”

There’s a flash of light as Gricko claps his hands, the spirit image that had crouched over him dissipating as he sits back with a worried look on his face.

Gideon gasps, his eyes snapping open and he lurches upright, arms flailing. Kremy’s heart leaps into his throat as he jolts upright and begins to waver, his chest heaving. Frost gently pushes Gideon back and he lands in Kremy’s arms, immediately ensconced in his arms.

“Oh my god Gid, easy now.”

Gideon coughs and then groans as he lets himself slump against Kremy. “What in the hells just happened?”

“Quite literally poked a sleeping bear,” Frost said, sitting back and turning to look out into the forest.

“Where's Torbek?” Gideon immediately tries to sit up again, nearly bowling Gricko over as he tries to wrap Gideons wounds.

“Oi, easy there, Big Red,” Gricko says, trying to push him back down. “Need to get these wrapped up.”

Gideon relents, hissing as Gricko works to wind the bandage around his torso, but turns his attention to Kremy and Frost. “Where’s Torbek?”

“He ran away, off into the forest.” Frost says, still looking into the trees.

“Is he okay? Is the other guy still in control?”

Kremy shakes his head. “No, he looked like himself again before he freaked out and ran.”

Gricko finishes securing the end of the bandage and sits back, followed immediately by Gideon pushing himself to his feet, faster than any of them expect him to be able to move in this state. He wavers a bit and Kremy pops to his feet to support him.

“Take it easy, man,” he says.

“I can’t, I gotta go find him.”

“Gid, you need to rest, let someone else go find him,” Kremy insists, keeping a hand on Gideon's arm.

“I’m okay, Kremy.” He claps his own hand over Kremy’s, squeezing it reassuringly. “I need to show him I’m fine, and besides… I need to talk to him.”

Kremy nods, knowing what Gideon is thinking about and reluctantly lets go of him.

It's not hard to follow where Torbek went, the panicked bugbear having left a trail of loping footprints and broken foliage through the forest. The walking and calling out his name makes Gideons chest ache, and he runs out of breath way sooner than usual, much to his annoyance.

“I’ll make waffles for when you guys get back.”

---

After several minutes of walking he hears heavy panting and dirt being thrown around, and as he calls Torbeks name again he hears wailing in response.

“Has mister Gideon come to haunt Torbek, Torbek is so sorry, Torbek didn't mean to kill mister Gideon!” Torbeks voice is muffled as he cowers in the small hovel he has dug under the roots of a tree, which is nowhere near big enough to house his lanky stature. His back is exposed and Gideon can see that the canisters upon it are full again and not bubbling, and despite his hunched posture his limbs appear to be their normal length again.

“Torbek, it's me.” Gideon says, gingerly lowering himself to his knees next to the gnarled roots of the tree. “I'm okay, alright? I ain't dead.”

“Don’t lie to Torbek!” Torbek howls, covering his head with his hands, hiding his face.

“Torbek, stop!” Gideon grasps onto Torbek’s wrist, gently pulling his hand away from his face. Torbeks eyes are clenched tight, his face wet with tears, and his other hand moves to cover his eyes again before Gideon reaches out for that hand too. “Hey man, open your eyes. It’s just me, Torbek.”

Torbek sniffs loudly, but he doesn’t fight against Gideons grip on his hands. He tilts his head back, trying to control heavy sobfilled breaths that make his shoulders shake, his whole body trembling. Torbek slowly manages to pry one eye open and squints at him, and Gideon smiles at him with a lopsided grin that he hopes is reassuring.

Both eyes pop open and Torbek pulls his wrists out of Gideons grasp and reaches for his shoulders, as thought to verify that this image in front of him is a corporeal form, solid and able to be touched. “M-mister Gideon?”

“In the flesh-” Gideons words turn into a groan as Torbek suddenly grabs him into a hug, squeezing him tightly and jostling his wounds. “Ow! Easy, big guy, still a little tender here.”

Torbek quickly lets go and scampers back a few paces, babbling as he goes. “Torbek is so sorry, Torbek didn't mean to hurt Gideon, Torbek didn't know what was happening!”

Gideon places a hand over the tender wounds and sits down on a fallen tree nearby, patting the space next to him. “I know you didn't mean to, Torbek. Come sit down.”

Torbek folds into himself as he hunches his back, his head nearly sinks into his shoulders as he makes himself as small as possible, carefully making his way to the tree and sits down with a space between them.

“Torbek had a nightmare,” he says as he settles on the log. As hunched over and folded into himself as he is, he still looks ready to bolt at any moment.

Gideon nods. “I figured that's what happened. I've been there too, man. What was it about?”

“Torbek…” Torbek looks down at the grassy forest floor, shuffling his feet as he searches for the words. “Torbek can’t really explain what Torbek was dreaming about. Torbek was in pain, it was so bright, there were people who didn't have faces, and there were needles,” Torbek groans as he looks down at his hands. Gideon can still see some of the blood on his hands, though most of it is coated in dirt and wood splinters now. “And then suddenly Torbek was awake and Torbek had hurt mister Gideon and Torbek was so scared!”

Gideon reflexively puts a hand on Torbeks shoulder, making sure the anxious bugbear doesn’t bolt again. Torbek sways a bit, as though internally fighting with himself over sitting still or running off into the forest.

“I’ve been in your position before, Torbek. We don’t talk about it anymore ‘cause there hasn’t been a need to, but I’ve hurt a dear friend during a nightmare like that too.”

Torbek looks at Gideon, his eyes wide. “R-really?”

Gideon lets go of Torbeks shoulder and looks off into the trees as he starts to speak.

“I still remember the dream very clearly. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it. It’d only been a few weeks since I escaped from the train- hells, I still had wounds of my own still healing from my escape,” Gideon gestures to the scars on his arms and shoulders, visible through the open front of his torn shirt. Torbek follows the gesture and cringes into himself as he looks down at the bandages around Gideons torso and averts his eyes.

“But in my dream I was stuck back in that engine, deep in the heart of the furnace. The chains were anchored into the walls and I was stuck, just like I had been for years. When I looked up, the hatch at the top was open and I could see those damn hobgoblins looking down at me, taunting me. Must not have been much for entertainment on the train, cause they sure loved doing that.

“The faces were getting closer to me, sorta floating in the air around me and they were prodding me with their weapons, grabbing at me with their hands. I was pulling on the chains, hoping that maybe this time I’d be strong enough to rip those damn anchors out of the wall. I felt one of their hands touch my chest and it was like ten years worth of rage just imploded and I ripped those anchors out like nothing. I whipped my chains,” he mimicks flinging the chains out in an arc around him, making a whip crack noise with his mouth, “and wrapped them around that fuckers throat and dragged him down so I could watch the life drain out of his eyes.”

He pauses and takes as deep of a breath as he can comfortably take. He grabs a tiny twig of a branch and snaps it off of the fallen tree the two of them are sitting on, twirling it between his fingers. “As I’m strangling this guy, in the back of my head I heard a voice that said ‘would you kindly let go of me.’

“And suddenly I was awake, and the face in front of me wasn’t that goddamn hobgoblin. It was Kremy, and the chains were glowing hot around his throat, so tight that he couldn’t breath.

“That was the first time he ever used his abilities on me, and he only barely managed to do it with what little air he had left. It scared the hell out of me, the way his eyes rolled back and he crumpled when I got the chains off of his throat, I was sure I had killed him too.” The twig snaps in two in his hands and he quickly snaps them into four smaller pieces before flinging them into the underbrush. “I didn’t know what to do, all I could do was get the chains off and shake him until he took a breath on his own, which thank fuck that that worked, ‘cause if it hadn’t… I don’t know what I would’ve done if it hadn’t. I don’t know anything about healing, so I was useless to him there. And I don’t know if I’d even be alive today if it weren’t for him.

“He couldn’t speak for three days after that, and the heat from the chains burned his neck pretty bad. For the most part, it healed, but I know he still has some scars under his shirt collar. I still feel terrible about it, but we've talked about it and worked through it, and he has never held it against me.”

He claps a hand onto Torbeks shoulder again, startling him. “So what I’m trying to say is that it’s alright, Torbek. I’ve been where you are, and I know I should’ve been more careful. I know you were scared and you didn’t mean to hurt me, just like I never meant to hurt Kremy.”

Torbek clenches his fists and presses them against his head as he shakes it, his face twisted in despair. “Torbek would never dream of hurting Gideon, Torbek would never want to hurt any of his friends.”

Gideon gently grasps his wrist, pulling his hands away from his head as the bugbear starts squeezing his own head. “Hey man, don’t beat yourself up about it.” He spreads his arms wide, as if to display himself. “Look, I’m alright! A couple new scars ain’t gonna kill me, hell it just makes me look even more badass.”

Torbek shrugs, looking sheepish. “Scars are pretty cool.”

Gideon throws his head back with a laugh, to which Torbek gives a sad smile. “Torbek just wishes that Torbek didn’t give you the scars.”

Gideon manages to contain his laughter, once again clapping Torbek on the shoulder. “Just as I wish I’d never given Kremy his scar either, man. The both of us have gone through some shit, and we can't control our nightmares. I knew it was risky to get close while you were having one, so if anyone's to blame for tonight, it's on me, okay? This isn't your fault.”

Torbek makes a face, expressing his doubt. “It sorta is Torbeks fault though…”

Gideon pushes Torbeks shoulder so he twists to look at Gideon, his face serious. “No. It's not, Torbek. I don’t think it was even you in control when this happened. I think the other guy woke up first and he was the one that did this.”

Torbek’s ears flattened back and he sunk even further into himself with a groan.

“So it really isn’t your fault, Torbek.”

“Torbek doesn’t like the other guy.”

“Yeah, he’s kinda an asshole,” Gideon laughs. “Which is why we’re going to figure this out, okay? We’ll figure out what his deal is and see if we can get him outta ya. And in the meantime, we’ll just have to… I don’t know, stay out of reach if you’re having a nightmare.”

“Torbek gives Gideon permission to throw something at Torbek to wake him up next time.” Torbek winks at Gideon, his lips peeling back into a toothy grin.

Gideon laughs and wraps an arm around Torbek, pulling him into a jovial side hug. “Well, I just hope you don't have any more nightmares, okay? But if it comes to that, I'll make sure it's something soft.”

“Torbek appreciates that.”

Gideon feels Torbek relax into the hug and holds him there for a few moments. He squeezes Torbek tightly one more time before releasing him and pushing himself to his feet.

His vision spins when he stands and suddenly Torbek is there, bending his lanky posture to duck under Gideons arm to support him until the dizziness passes.

“Alright, that's about enough of that,” Gideon mutters, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tries to focus on their surroundings. “I feel like I'll need your help getting back there Torbek, but a little birdie told me there's waffles waiting for us at the campsite.”

It isn’t until he hears Gideons laugh just a few paces away that Kremy realizes just how much he had been holding his breath, waiting for him to return. Though his sigh of relief turns to distress again as he looks up from his cooking and sees Torbek supporting almost all of Gideons weight as they exit the tree line.

Torbeks ears flick up, his eyes widen, and he emits an excited hum, almost entirely lifting Gideon off the ground as he straightens up and all but carries Gideon back to the clearing.

---

Gideon looks terrible still, his brow tight despite the grin on his lips, and his shirt hanging off of him in tatters. His face twists into a grimace as Torbek moves his arm off his shoulders and shuffles away, slinking into a crouch by the fire that Gricko is pushing another log into.

Gideon makes his way over to Kremy, moving stiffly as he lowers himself to the ground next to the stump Kremy is sitting on. Once seated he groans, placing both hands over the bandages and slowly allows himself to flop back onto the dirt, almost in the same spot he had been sleeping before the night's interruption, and closes his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Kremy asks, using his foot to nudge Gids' satchel-turned-pillow against his shoulder.

In response, Gideon raises one hand in a thumbs up before letting it flop into the dirt, absolutely exhausted. He lifts his head to shove the satchel under it and once he’s settled, opens his eyes to look up at Kremy with a soft smile.

“Feel like I could sleep for a week right now.”

“Don’t blame ya at all.”

Gideon yawns so widely that Kremy hears his jaw click and he winces at the sound. He turns back to the fire, checking the waffle iron buried in the logs, and then looking around at the rest of the group. Frost has Torbek holding out his hands, using a towel and one of his water skins to wash the blood and dirt off of them. Gricko is yammering away, telling some wild Goblin story that Torbek seems to be enthralled by, laughing loudly when Gricko says something in a language only the two of them understand. Hootsie is laying on the ground next to Torbek, leaning against him as she slaps at her fly-pad.

Kremy pulls the iron out of the fire and deposits the fluffy golden waffle onto one of the small plates he carries with him, quickly refills the iron and shoves it back into the fire before getting up to move over to Torbek, presenting the plate to him.

Torbek looks up at him in surprise before gratefully accepting it. “Thank you, mister Kremy. Torbek is really sorry for hurting Gideon and scaring mister Kremy.”

“We’re all good, Torbek.” Kremy says, patting him on the shoulder with a small smile and then moving back to his stump.

“You want one of these, Gid?” He’s barely finished asking the question when a loud snore rends the air and he looks down at Gideon, splayed out on the ground and completely out for the count.

Seeing him sleeping so peacefully again makes Kremy’s heart flutter, a far cry from how he felt only an hour ago when he thought he would lose this man. He’s okay, everythings going to be okay, he tells that little voice of anxiety in the back of his mind.

“You probably need to sleep more than you need food right now, so I’ll make you one in the morning, you big idiot,” he says, smiling fondly at the sleeping form beside him.

#here's a thing i wrote #legends of avantris #once upon a witchlight #ouaw fanfic #gideon coal #kremy lecroux #torbek #whump fanfic

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lunalikestowriteanddraw · 2 months ago

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I NEED the Krew to actually TALK about what happened in episode 46. (Spoilers under the cut)

And I don’t mean them mentioning that it happened but “it’s all fine now because they’re alive!” Because I imagine that shit scarred all of them, one way or another. Frost especially.

I don’t care HOW the conversation happens, but it does need to happen. They each need to have that closure, rather than letting those thoughts and feelings swirl in their minds for all eternity. And I don’t just mean in fanfic or whatever. No, it needs to happen sometime in canon, when they have a moment to talk about it in-depth (so probably post-canon, all things considered).

I just…I need Frost to tell them how it felt, watching as all his friends fall around him, and how he couldn’t do anything. I imagine he still gets nightmares about it, especially for the first few nights after the fact, and I imagine he wakes up from those nightmares and probably goes and cuddles up next to Gricko (after making sure he’s breathing. Even if, logically, Frost KNOWS that Gricko is alive and breathing—he’s snoring, shifting around, whatever—he still needs to check. Just in case), as if to confirm to himself that, yes, they’re here. Theyre alive. He’s not alone.

I need Torbek to talk about how he feels like he’s not good enough in battle. How he kicks himself for not being able to control the Witchlight better, for not being able to bring out the Other. Because maybe, just maybe, if he was somehow able to bring out the Other in that fight, maybe they would’ve had a chance (they still wouldn’t, it would still end the same, and Torbek knows it deep down, but he kicks himself all the same)

I need Gricko to lament about how he thinks he’s not a good enough healer. He’s supposed to keep his friends from dying, and he couldn’t even do that right. Maybe if he had gotten to Gideon sooner, maybe if he had realized that Gideon was already long gone before he pumped his last spell slot into him. How he regrets that Hootsie wasn’t spared. Maybe if he had told her to run sooner, faster, maybe, just maybe, she would’ve made it out alive. Maybe. Or, at the very least, he wouldn’t have had to hear her yelps right before he fell unconscious himself. He’s supposed to be her father, he’s supposed to protect her. But he didn’t. Couldn’t. Just like he couldn’t protect his friends.

I need Kremy to tell Gideon how it felt to watch his best friend, his husband, get ripped apart before his very eyes, and being unable to stop it. Unable to help in any way. How he couldn’t imagine ever living in a world without Gid. After all, what’s the point of living when your reason for waking up each day is long gone? Someone else could pay his debt, surely.

I want Gideon to lament about just how useless he feels. With the mixture of being unable to help Twig in episode 41, turning into a stupid useless dancing mushroom (where he was the slowest because he traded the rhythm in his step away, and his friends had to help push him along), losing some of his fire (sure, he gained it back, but for several hours he felt colder. Weaker.), and then being the first one down during the Jabberwock fight? He’s supposed to be the strong one, the fighter, yet time and time again his friends are the ones protecting him. Keeping him alive while he keeps throwing himself into danger. He could’ve killed the Jabberwock, surely. With the help of Torbek, sure, but it would’ve died! It just got the jump on him, is all.

I just…I need them to talk, when they get the chance to. They deserve that much. To reassure themselves and their friends that everything is okay. They’re alive, and they’re not going to just abandon each other. Not again. Even if they feel weak, or useless, or like they could be so much more if they were just better. They all know now what it feels like to lose their family, their best friend, the love of their life, their everything. And I don’t think they’ll ever let themselves or each other experience that again. Not for a very long time, at least.

#I know this is really long sorry #I just really need them to talk about it okay!?#ESPECIALLY Frost Torbek and Gricko #Kremy and Gideon sure but Frost and the goblinoids I feel were affected the most #and I know Gricko’s thing might seem like I pulled it out of thin air #but Gricko has expressed that he doesn’t think his healing magic is very good #yeah it was at the end of episode 1 #but in universe that was only a handful of days ago #and I feel like I’m right on the money with Torbek and Gideon #I mean. Torbek has expressed that he doesn’t feel like he’s as good at fighting as Gideon is #and he was crying and BEGGING the Other to come out as he watched his friends fall around him #and I imagine Gideon has a lot of pent-up issues with his own strength and abilities after the past 20 or so episodes #because while his abilities and strength technically hasn’t changed #what has changed was the world around him. and how his friends are having to save his ass more and more #okay I’ll shut up now sorry #once upon a witchlight #legends of avantris

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obsidiancreates · 6 months ago

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From Regular Wednesday To Regular Whimsday

(I still haven't watched past 41 in OUAW, I keep just restarting it, so for the OUAW gang this is just some unspecified time in the swamps of Hither.)

It starts with Witchlight, of course. A patch of mushrooms, a mysterious artifact that could reportedly "open doors to new worlds of possibilities", and the whims of a 20 year old with ADHD and the ability to write whatever the fuck xey want.

And so the artifact shatters in the patch of Witchlight, and Carnival LeCroux find themselves faced with six deeply confused, highly concerned, and bafflingly identical humans.

"Well this is diffrrrent," Torbek says, scratching his head. "Isn't it usually uuus who Witchlight messeees withhh?"

"Must've been that orb thing!" Kremy searches the mud below them by poking his cane around in it.

"Roman, what is this?" The human in the dark shirt and blue-striped tie asks the one in the white-and-red royal-like getup.

"Don't look at me." Roman points at a human with a similar but more elaborate outfit of green and black. "Whatever this horrid imagining is, it must be Remus!"

"Oh, thank you, brother, it is horrible here! But, I didn't do it! Maybe good ol' Daddo did? He's been a frog before, frogs, swamps-"

"Please, Patton would never bring us somewhere this gr-oss!"

"And I really only looked like that because we were talkin' about Frogger." The human in the lighter blue shirt with the gray covering tied around his neck says, wincing a little and adjusting his glasses. "Virgil? Do you know where we are, kiddo?"

"No." The human in the patchwork purple and black hoodie is tense, ready for either fight or flight (probably flight, based on his general vibe). He looks around, eyeing Carnival Lecroux. "And those guys seem way too active to be any imaginary constructs. ... I told you guys we shouldn't have let Janus convince Thomas to have another glass of wine tonight! We're probably in some... weird nightmare because of it!"

"Oh, blaming me, what a surprise." The final human- well, maybe not. While most of him looks human, half of his face is covered with scales. His cheek has a natural slit implying an ability to unhinge his jaw quite wide but only on that side (so he probably can't actually, because his other cheek would be completely screwed if he tried), and his eye is bright yellow with a slitted pupil.

"Slit pupil means he's venomous," Frost warns his friends. "Right, Gricko?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I've never seen a snake-folk before, though, actually."

"He's barely a reptile-folk at all!" Kremy points at the kind of-human. "Either fuckin' commit or don't!"

"Oh, okay, gettin' some strong language here! Let's uh, elt's tone that down, how about, huh?" Patton looks at Remus. "Kinda leaning towards this being you, now."

"What, like I'm the only one who swears between us?! Ro-bro here-" Remus slings an arm around his brother, who quickly shoves it off. "-is the one who came up with Bitchmas!"

"I was in a heated debate! I'm just very passionate!"

"You're a potty-mouth! Even more than me!"

"I have to disagree, Remus. Your deodorant alone is all the evidence I need to contradict you."

"Mmm, but does contradicting me really matter if no-one cares to pay attention, Logan?"

"Oooooh, they've got drama." Twig climbs down from Gideon's shoulders. "This is just like those trashy major images!"

"We are not trashy!" Roman looks at his brother. "Well, most of us are not trashy. And we are not from some... major image!"

"Roman, I don't know that you need to justify us to the imaginary child."

"I'm not a child! I'm a Twig!"

"As in your name?"

"Yeah!"

"Then those are not mutually exclusive concepts."

"Alright, alright, enough of all this!" Kremy points at Logan with his cane. "Y'all explain yourselves right now so we can get a fuckin' move on!"

"Boy, lotta f-bombs being thrown around by this guy." Patton plays with the sleeves of the hoodie around his neck.

"Why would I explain? The only possibility is this is happening within Thomas's mind, so I see no reason to-"

"OH, GREAT FLYNN RIDER'S SMOLDER! Logan, there is another possibility! A whimsical, fantastical, impossible possibility!"

"That... is already a contradiction within itself."

"We... have been TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER WORLD!" Roman strikes a pose, one arm aloft in the air and the other held close t his chest as he gazes up into the sky.

"That is absolutely impossible."

"Uh... I dunno." Virgil looks down at the mud and swamp ooze clinging to his boots and pants. "I do feel... weirdly solid, right now."

"Yes! Some kind of incredible magic has taken us OUT OF THE REALM OF PRETEND and into a true fairytale!" Roman's eyes positively sparkle.

"First of all, magic does not exist."

The entire Carnival Crew look at each other. These people are either completely insane, or from what sounds like the worst world ever. No magic is like no stones for building, no wood for burning, no air for breathing.

Logan continues. "Second of all, if we have been somehow transported, beyond all possibility and the very logic that makes up my being, where is Thomas?"

Gideon puffs on his cigar. "Quit talkin' between yerselves! Just answer Kremy's fuckin' question, man!"

"The... alligator-man did not ask a question. He told us to explain ourselves."

"Oh-ho my gods! He's worse than Frost!"

Frost doesn't show if he's offended or not. He simply goes, "Mmm."

"I don't care what you say, Logan-"

"Not new information to me."

"-I am going to treat this as a grand magical adventure! Clearly we have been taken away to a world of magic and monstrosities to fulfill some grand quest, and these uh... strange creatures, are the proverbial tutorial for our journey!"

Gideon leans down to Kremy's ear. "Can I punch 'im?"

"Not yet, Gid. But probably later."

"Mmph, fine."

Roman points at the other party. "My good sirs! We are the Sanders Sides, a group of uh- what's the word you use, Logan?"

"Fine, I shall play along until a reasoning more aligned with myself is presented by someone who will actually be listened to. The word I use is Metaphysical, it simply means not actually physical beings."

"Yes! Metaphysical adventurers from another world!"

Frost leans in, intrigued. "What exactly do you mean, you aren't actually physical beings?"

Logan speaks before Roman can give his own explanation- likely for the best, as the words 'Well, nerd,' were clearly to be Roman's next input to the conversation. Logan, instead, matches the energy of Frost with his clear explanation.

"Well, to put it simply we are personifications of various aspects of Thomas's personality and mental processes. Our main function, and reason for existence, is often to externalize an issue that would normally be resolved through an internal examination and investigation."

"Wow, that's uh- that's really quite interesting. And yet you all take on these uh, these-these roles, and personalities, beyond your intended representations?"

"Yes, and the... severity, of these individualizations has increased drastically over the years."

"So you've had a-a growth cycle! You've developed your minds to contain intricacies and um, and greater depth of character, literally."

"Well- yes, I suppose that is not an inaccurate way of stating it, but again we are not individuals. We are not actually capable of fulfilling many of the requirements considered for actual-"

"OH MY GOSHHHHH!" As Patton cuts Logan off with a joyous scream, Logan's huff of indignation goes unnoticed by all but the fascinated Frost. Instead, all attention turns to the creature who has stepped out of the bushes. Giant round eyes, soft and fluffy fur-feathers, a little beat that the leg of a frog is quickly swallowed into.

"I'm going to cry," Patton breathes, hands clasped up by his mouth.

Logan clears his throat and adjusts his glasses. "It is a very adorable creature. And apparently docile, which I assume means it's with these people."

"OH, of course she is!" Gricko throws himself at the adorable owlbear, clinging to her neck with a hug as she muzzles her face into his. "This is my daughter Hootsie, Hootsie T. Cutesie-Grimgrin!"

"Don't you mean pet?"

Gricko looks at Logan with horror. "No! She's my daughter, and a very bright little girl, oooooh Hootsie, he didn't mean it, they must not have adoption in whatever world he's from."

"What? Of course we understand the concept of adoption, but-"

"Well y'all said you ain't got magic where you're from, so it ain't too unreasonable to assume you're lackin' a buncha other stuff as well!" Kremy gestures at Logan with the ground-end of his cane, flinging swamp muck onto the human's shirt.

Logan sets his jaw and looks Kremy in the eyes while flicking the muck off. "Our world lacking in nonsensical magic does not mean it lacks basic concepts such as adoption. I was proposing a correction because, while it is clear anthropomorphic animal-human hybrids are a normalcy here, that... is just a bear with an owl face."

"Hey! You keep shit-talkin' our niece, I'm gonna punch you right in the body!"

"I am not-"

"AWWWWW, you guys think of each other as family?"

Kremy taps the eyehole if his skull cane topper. "Well, I dunno if-"

"Hell yeah we're a family!" Gideon grabs Hootsie, and by extension Gricko, and holds them both in a hug. "Been travellin' together so fuckin' long an' know so much about each other, what else could we be?"

"I mean we could be a group or uh-"

"Ooooooh, but Mr. Kremyyyyyy, Torbek thinks of you all as faaamily."

The screams of the entire collective, Sides and Carnival alike, could deafen someone unused to either party. Twig and Roman especially.

"Oh-ho, geez, man! We forgot you were here!" Gideon thumps Torbek on the back. "You gotta stop doin' that!"

"He does that a lot?!" Vigril, adrenaline leaving him, drops out of his pose to bolt and sinks deep into his hoodie. The words come out more like spittle, forcing their way through gritted teeth.

"Ooooh, Torbek doesn't mean to. People just forget Torbek exists."

"That's not a terrifying notion at all." Janus keeps his cane hoisted up and arm cocked for a swing, just in case. "There's nothing alarming about a seven foot tall glowing monster who can completely vanish from notice without even trying."

"I knew he was still here!" Remus twirls his morningstar and walks over to Torbek, burying his face in Torbek's closest patch of fur and taking a deep sniff. "You reek! It is delightful!"

"Oooooh- huh? Wait, reeeeally? You find Torbek deliiightfuuul?"

"Oh, abso-lutely! What is that smell, I have never whiffed it before! Is it your deodorant? What flavor is it called?!"

"Uuuuuuh, what's deodorannnt?"

Remus blinks up at Torbek with a grin absolutely carved into his face. "You're going to be my new best friend. Sorry Janus!"

"I don't care at all." Janus examines his "fingernails", despite the presence of his gloves. "The title means nothing to me."

"You love me!" Remus begins to literally climb Torbek. "Now let me see these glowing drug implants! This place is a wealth of new ideas!"

"Please do not encourage my brother," Roman says with a look of disgust.

"We ain't, I think he's just encouragin' himself. And trust us, we've tried makin' Torbek a little more presentable."

"Yeah! When he was all tiny in my inn, he got a nice bath and makeover! But it got ruined as soon as he fell out." Twig holds up her tiny satchel-sized inn for Roman to see.

"Your- oh, look at that! Now that is the kind of whimsy and fantastical magic I was looking for!"

"Speaking of looking, let's look for a way home." Virgil is no longer quite so pressed into his hoodie, but the hood is still up over his head. "What is Thomas going through right now? You guys said when I ducked out, things got bad. Now we're all gone!"

"Oh, sweet Tatiana's beignets, he's right! Thomas could be in serious peril!"

"That's assuming our roles as facets of his personality still apply to us at this moment. Given that we have physical forms-"

Remus's head snaps around and he shouts, "You're all aware of your own breathing!"

Everyone splutters and gasps and makes general noises of upset as suddenly Breathing becomes a conscious effort.

"And we've all got heartbeats!" Remus giggles and claps his hands as even more displeasure rings out, and he simply turns back to trying to part Torbek's fur around the implants and see the scars. Torbek shifts uncomfortably, but his ear twitches and his eyes glaze with a bit of relief- Remus is unintentionally helping scratch a few itches and clean some gunk from Torbek's fur.

Virgil has his hand over his heart. "Is mine supposed to be racing this much?"

"Well, everyone has a different resting heart rate, Virgil. Allow me to- oh my goodness. Ahem. No, that is likely because your, well, you, has spiked with Remus's comments."

"Hhhnnnnggg..."

"Okay, Virgil, now would be the time to utilize those breathing exercises you've taught Thomas."

"Little easier to say than do, Logan!"

"Well, simply try."

"Yes, and if the racing nature of your heart causes you other health problems, Gricko may be able to help." Frost gestures at the goblin who, when Torbek had frightened everyone, had dropped from Hootsie's neck and landed head-first in the soft muck of the swamp. Gricko puts up a single thumbs-up, still quite stuck and dazed, though his nose peeks out just enough for him to breath without worry of suffocation.

Logan blinks. "He, is your doctor?"

"Not exactly, he is uh- let me pull him out, actually, he may want to correct you."

Frost does not move to pull Gricko up- but up Gricko comes anyway, a shhhhhplop! following some invisible force yanking him from the mud.

"Oh, thank you, Frosty," Gricko says, his voice becoming mumbled and somewhat slurred at the last word. "Anyway! Um, yes, I am not exactly a doctor, I am a druid. I can help with some basics healings but not everything."

"Like Torbek's various raaashes."

"Ooooh, you have rashes? Where?!"

"Remus, you will get rashes if you touch them," Janus says, reaching up with his cane and swiftly pulling Remus down to the ground. "Having a real body means you can actually get diseases now."

"Oh, Janny, you're saying that like it's a bad thing!"

"Which means real, symptoms? Including things like death?"

"I still don't see the issue here."

"Okay. Does anyone have a leash?"

"Ooooooh, yes, please."

"Eugh."

#once upon a witchlight #sanders sides #thomas sanders #legends of avantris #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic

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invaderdoom78 · 5 days ago

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Currently watching the Nightmare Before Witchlight and I miss Torbek :( don't get me wrong it's just as good as the Yuletide one-shots but I miss my pathetic little bugbear.

#youtube #legends of avantris #once upon a witchlight #edge of midnight #stardust rhapsody #uprooted #gideon coal #bitsy uprooted #chuckles the clown #briggsy kratch #torbek #I was really looking forawrd to reading too much into his and Briggys interactions #I crave the briggsbek

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u5an5 · 21 days ago

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Of things extra: Once Upon a Witchlight Ep. 19.1 | First Initiative

Episode | Masterlist

! Fair warning, this post contains SPOILERS. If you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING !

[55:40 -

The door of the Inn makes that same creaking noise you heard earlier when opening on its own. From out of view long, impossibly long, tendril-like fingers slowly creep around the doorframe. The fingers steadily draw a figure through the doorway of this old strange cottage.

It appears to be almost more shadow than person, except glowing magenta eyes. The figure easily fills the entire door frame.

This isn't due to its bulk or its musculature, but rather due to its unnaturally long limbs, torso and face. All hunched over, as it begins sliding into the tavern.

As it fully stands and stretches inside the entrance, its limbs almost unfolding now that there is room, you notice first how eerily silent the figure is. You can see it rapidly breathing, but it makes almost no sound. Several strange objects are protruding from its back and shoulders.

Staring at this nightmare makes you almost feel like a scared child once again.

You now realize the monster is - was? - your funemployed acquaintance, Torbek.

Something is clearly wrong.

While you recall him being tall, Torbek's flesh now almost undulates, and his limbs are two, maybe three times as long as you remember.

Stunned, confused, and some of you perhaps disgusted that this creature cursed your doorstep once again, you have no time to react before the lightning quick Torbek lunges for you.

(Krew, Twig) vs [Torbek?]

Turn 1

(Gricko) - He transforms into the Frogemoth, hops up closer and lashes out his tongue to attack (Wildshape, ranged magical attack - misses)

[Torbek] - He attacks Gricko, piercing his right shoulder with his long, needle-like nails and pumps him with some sort of venom, causing Gricko's skin to bloat and bubble, as if experiencing strong allergic reaction

(Gricko) - Your speed is halved, you may only take an action or bonus action, not both, and if attack action has already been taken you can only attack once in turn (legendary action)

(Frost) - He lashes out with his mind, trying to hurt and stun Torbek (Mind Whip, -3 sorcery points for Torbek to roll at disadvantage; misses) moves 10ft to cover Twig

[Torbek] - His skin is undulating and his body is moving in unnatural way, too fluid, yet halting (attacks against him are at disadvantage)

(Kremy) - Ominous jazz is audible when his form is covered by his shadow, with glowing neon sigils and etchings on him (Form of Dread; bonus action)

You gain temporary hit points equal 1d10 plus your warlock level (+9 hitpoints) Once during each of your turns when you hit a creature with an attack roll you can force it to make a wisdom saving throw and if it fails it's Frightened of you. You're immune to Frightened condition.

-Traces an eldritch glyph in air using his cane (Bane; hits)

[Torbek] - You must make a Charisma saving throw. If you fail, whenever you make an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, you must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from the attack roll or saving throw.

-backs up

[Torbek] - His eyes narrow as he attacks Gideon (Claw Attack; hits)

Attack against someone who hasn't moved doubles the dice; -10 slashing damage, -10 poison damage)

(Twig) - She yells for Pigtunia to come to her (Summons her familiar; a Tiny flying pig with a petunia behind her ear) and

-A shadow of Boggart appears behind her, as she moves forward (disadvantage; Hex; Eldritch Blast, hits -15 force damage)

[Torbek] - Lets out first noise as he is hit, his fur is singed as he rears back and lets out a howl

-after hitting him, Pigtunia starts to circle around him

[Torbek] - His needle-like claws shoot out towards Kremy, hitting him in the middle of his chest (Constitution saving throw, passed)

(Kremy) - You begin to glow with silver light and cannot become Invisible or Unseen (legendary action)

(Gideon) - Crushes the cigar he was holding, activating his Flame Form and he punches Torbek in his ribs as his manacles activate and their chains wrap around him (disadvantage; Attacks, hits -19 total damage)

[Torbek] - (after failing Strength saving throw against chains) You are restrained for 1 minute - your move becomes 0, you can't benefit from any bonus to your speed, Attack rolls against you are at Advantage, your Attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws are at Disadvantage

[Torbek] - Does wide sweeping motion with his claws and tries to attack Frost (disadvantage; Attacks, hits -8 points of slashing damage, -5 points of poison damage)

Turn 2

Being in presence of this terrifying creature that Torbek became, looking at it you are horrified

(All within range) - At the beginning of your turn you have to roll Wisdom saving throw. If you fail you become Frightened for 1 minute - you can't move closer to creature that casted it at you and as long as you are within sight of it all your Ability checks and Attack rolls are at disadvantage

(Gricko) - (after failing Wisdom saving throw; Frightened) Still inflated from weird venom, he rolls away from Torbek, looks towards Gideon and tries to shout something reassuring to him that comes out as muffled mumbles

(Hootsie) - Seeing all this happen, she tries to attack Torbek (Attack, miss)

[Torbek] - He trashes wildly against chains that hold him, as in almost a whipping motion he uses his unbelievably long limbs to attack Kremy with his claws (disadvantage; Attack, miss; legendary action)

(Frost) - Tries to get inside Torbek's head, silently reaches in, trying to do as much damage as possible (Psionic Attack, missed; Shove, moves Torbek 5ft away)

-moves as far away as he can

[Torbek] - He hunches down, his fur begins to bristle, apparatus on his back begins to glow, as magenta dust starts to come out of it, creating thick miasma that hangs in the air, smelling absolutely disgusting

Any creature that moves within 30ft of Torbek must succeed on DC Constitution saving throw or vomit and be stunned until their next turn

(Kremy) - (after passing Constitution DC) Points his cane at Torbek as skull at the tip of it let out bolts of purple and green neon light (Advantage; Eldritch Blast, hits -7 points of force damage)

-moves behind Gideon, taking cover

[Torbek] - Tries to attack Kremy but since he hid behind Gideon, he hits him instead (disadvantage; Attack, hits -10 slashing damage, -5 poison damage)

[Torbek] - The chains around you fire up (-6 fire damage, move speed 0, disadvantage at Attack rolls)

[Torbek] - Tries to attack Gricko and Gideon (Attack, miss; Attack, hits -10 damage, making Gideon slump on the ground)

(Gideon) - As you start to lose consciousness, your body begins to shake and quiver. You had had the Bean Milk. You come to with 1 hit point. (Prone)

-seeing Frost run away from him he tries to hunt him down, pouncing as quickly and as closely to him as he can, stepping by accident on Fredrick

(Twig) - Enraged that Torbek presumably killed Fredrick, she grows 6in, her nails elongate, her eyes go little wilder, her hair starts to frizz out as she commands Pigtunia to attack (bonus action - Attack, hits)

(Pigtunia) - she breathes in the polluted air around her and then sneezes at Torbek, covering him in pink glittery magical Fae energy (-5 piercing damage)

-Blasts at him a spell (Eldritch Blast, hits -13 points of force damage)

(Gideon) - After being helped standing up by Kremy he punches Torbek in gut (Attack, hits -21 bludgeoning damage, all Torbeck's hits will be at disadvantage until Gideons next turn - Crusher feat)

[Torbek] - As he rears back, you can for the first time hear his breathing. It's rushed, it's ragged, it seems to anger him

-(bonus action - Second Wind, +6 hit points)

Turn 3

(Gricko) - (Frightened, not bloated anymore) Plays tune on his ocarina (Guiding Bolt, hits -22 of radiant damage, next attack on Torbek will be at Advantage)

[Torbek] - as he's hit he screams in pain, looks behind his shoulder and tries to reach Frost behind him and Gricko in front of him (disadvantage; Attack, hits)

(Gricko) - Your insides are on fire, like they are floating in acid

-Reminds Gideon about bananas (Healing Word, +6 points; no longer Frightened)

(Frost) - Tries to reason with Torbek as he reaches inside his mind to paralyze him (Hold Person, hits)

[Torbek] - You are paralyzed. You cannot take actions, reactions, you cannot speak or move, you fail Dexterity and Strength saves automatically, attacks at you have advantage and hits automatically crit. At the end of each of your turns, you can make another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, the spell ends on the target.

[Torbek] - As Torbek is paralyzed, his wounds visibly begin to close and his nail shot out and pierce Frosts side (legendary action)

(Kremy) - He walks up beside Gideon and touches Torbek with his cane, which emits green light and screams of damned and wails of tortured (Inflict Wounds, hits -47 of necrotic damage)

[Torbek] - He looks really rough, more than usual, but his wounds begin to close up as he can move once again (no longer Paralyzed)

(Twig) - Commands her familiar to attack again (Attack, hits -6 damage, Constitution saving throw failed)

if you fail you get hit with -6 points of poison damage, you're poisoned for 1 minute and if you roll 5 or lower you fall unconscious, (he rolled 4, then rerolled to 10)

[Torbek] - he tries to shake off the effects of the spell, as his wounds begin to close up once again

-After she praises Pigtunia she fires a blast at him (Advantage; Eldrich Blast, hits -19 force damage)

(Gideon) - He tries to punch him, then headbutt and grapple him with his arms (Attack, miss; Action Surge, hits -12 bludgeoning damage, -5 fire damage; Strength contest failed)

You notice that after hitting him, Torbek's wounds take much longer to close up, and you manage to hold him for a bit but he slips out of your hold

[Torbek] - The aparutes at his start to hum and pump, emitting purple glow (all players have to roll d8; legendary action)

(Frost) 6 - All of your hair and teeth fall out (Gricko) 5 - Your hands and feet switch places (Twig) 4 - You can no longer blink and your eyes are very dry for 1 round (Kremy) 2 - You can only speak in a made-up language that no one but you understands for 2 rounds (Gideon) 8 - A mask appears and affixes to your face. That mask is of a nightmare, a flaming flying horse. It makes you see a Vision.

Turn 4

(Gricko) - You feel your blood turn into acid (-18 points of damage from the hit he got in the previous Turn)

(Gricko) - Using his feet-hands tries to play his ocarina, as he summons a deformed boar with wings and make it attack (Summon Beast; Pack Tactics, failed)

-He moves away from Torbek towards Hootsie as he tries to attack with his tongue (Attack, miss)

[Torbek] - Despite standing with his back towards him, he seems almost to sense the attack as he nimbly moves out of its way, contorting his body in weird way

-His veins feel like they are on fire, but he's are able to clear the Mutagen out

(Frost) - your insides are on fire (-16 poison damage)

(Frost) - after admitting Torbeks win this time, he falls unconscious

Torbek starts to heal up, but you can feel it's going to end soon, one way or another, and you have a feeling it's not gonna be him who comes out on top. After taking so much damage, you can see the feralness in his eyes fade in and out. It seems like Torbek you know might not be here right now, but he is there, somewhere.

(Kremy) -16 poison damage

(Kremy) - He says he's sorry how Krew treated him and that they can talk this out, then snap with his fingers, firmly believing that he succeeded (Suggestion, automatic fail because he talks in language nobody but him understands but he doesn't know it)

[Torbek] - Tries to attack Twig and then magenta light fills the room (disadvantage; Attack, miss; Attack, miss; legendary action, all players have to roll d8)

(Gricko) 8 - A mask appears and affixes to your face. You can't get it off or remove it. That mask is of an owlbear. It makes you see a Vision. (Twig) 7 - You find everything hilarious. (Kremy) 7 - You find everything hilarious. (Gideon) 7 - You find everything hilarious.

(Twig) - Commands her familiar to attack (Atack, hits -4 of piercing damage)

-tries to blast him (Eldritch Blast, fail)

[Torbek] - He's looking very, very rough. He's moving slower than before

(Gideon) - He goes behind Torbek, grabs him and suplexes him over his shoulder (Attack, hits)

[Torbek] - When he hits the ground, he loses consciousness.

As the final blow lands, Torbek's limbs begin to ripple and move, and... shrink. He's rapidly returning to the size that you remember. The apparatuses that adorn his shoulders hum and glow, but his eyes do not any longer.

After his short moment of unconsciousness, Torbek appears to come to. He is blinking and regaining himself somewhat. He immediately looks around at what's happening to all of these people in this Inn and he recoils and pulls back in fear and slides all the way back to the wall, until he feels the wall hitting his back.

He blinks a few times and he looks around at all of you and he says

"G-guys? Where is Torbek...?"

As a single tear runs down his cheek.

Torbek, for now, appears to be in his right mind.

-02:21:50]

Episode | Masterlist

#follow #Of things obtained: Once Upon a Witchlight #for future updates #considering this is their first fight i trough it was worth noting down #i dont think i will be noting others down unless its some kind of boss fight #on the other hand what other fights do they have?#writing this one down took me much longer than any posts before so i think i wont be posting anything else until next day #and i think ill be doing this with each fight #legends of avantris #once upon a witchlight #ouaw #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #podcast

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walkingaftermidnight07 · 2 years ago

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All I Need is You - Kit Herondale x Ty Blackthorn Oneshot

Hi my lovely humans! I'm back with another oneshot which is very overdue, considering I haven't done one in A WHILE.

This oneshot was inspired by this post thread from the lovely @tys-kitty (hi bestie <3) and the lovely @mayaheronthorn and @queenie-blackthorn and as soon as I saw this I was like. Yes. I have to write it. It's happening. So here I am ;)

word count is abt 1.3k and if you'd like to check out any more of my KitTy oneshots, here are the others!

Balcony oneshot

SOBH Reunion: Kit POV & Ty POV

And here's a KitTy playlist I made a couple months ago linked here

make sure to comment and reblog if you liked it so that more ppl can see it! likes are great too, but reblogging really helps get my content out there to more people and helps to support me (and i just really like reading y'all comments lol) and with that being said, let's get into it!

also i apologize in advance for the fact that i did not edit or revisit this before posting so its prob not the best it could be lol

enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Ty-

Ty awoke to a sharp pain in his side.

For a second he panicked, blinking sleep out of his eyes as he tried to adjust to the pitch black around him. He was in the Institute, so there shouldn’t be anything trying to attack him, right?? And yet, he knew that wasn’t necessarily true. It had happened before, when he was only a child. He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out his witchlight, and it flared to life around him. And immediately, he relaxed again. There was nothing there, only Kit, who was sleeping next to him. He realized vaguely that Kit had elbowed him.

He also realized they were far closer than they had been when they’d fallen asleep last night.

He didn’t really get the chance to dwell on it, however, because Kit made a noise in his sleep. A whimper. And he thrashed, his limbs splaying out as he did so.

So that was how Kit had managed to elbow him, Ty thought wryly. Then he frowned.

Was Kit having a nightmare?

He was, wasn’t he?

Something inside Ty, some part of him that he had always tried to ignore, kicked into gear. He shifted over, sitting back on his knees next to Kit. And he grabbed Kit’s shoulders and shook him as gently as he could.

“Kit, wake up,” Ty whispered. “It’s just a dream. Wake up.”

Kit’s eyes flew open and he moved so quickly that Ty fell back, scrambling away to give Kit space. Kit’s breathing was too fast, and very loud. He sounded like he’d just run a mile, or just been in a fight. Ty wanted so badly to reach out and put his hand on Kit’s chest, and feel his heartbeat as his breathing slowed, to help him calm down. Livvy used to do that for him whenever he was overwhelmed.

“Ty….?” Kit whispered into the darkness. Ty realized he’d dropped his witchlight. He felt around in the dark until he found it again. Kit winced when the bright light shone into his eyes.

“Yes?” Ty responded. He warily moved closer. Kit flinched. He stopped moving. “Are you okay? Was it…did you have a nightmare?”

Kit took a shuddering breath and nodded, his breathing still rapid and uneven. Then he made a choked sound, and Ty realized he was crying.

Kit…crying? Ty’s stomach dropped and he felt his own throat tighten. Kit wasn’t supposed to cry. He…he was supposed to be strong, to be happy. Ty couldn’t stand it. He had to do something.

Almost impulsively he slid over to be next to Kit, so close that their legs were touching. Ty put one hand on Kit’s chest, feeling his heartbeat and took Kit’s hand with the other hand.

“Breathe, Kit,” He said softly. He felt Kit’s heart skip a beat. It wasn’t slowing down. Why wasn’t it slowing down?

“I—I saw my father,” Kit murmured. “I saw him die. Those—those demons that killed him—And my mother was there. I somehow….I somehow knew how she’d died. I—” He broke off and choked out another sob. Ty squeezed his hand.

“Tell me what I can do to help you, Kit,” Ty said, because now he was scared. He had never been good at comforting people. What if he was only making things worse? “Tell me what you need. Please, Kit.”

“You,” Kit blurted out. “I just need you. Just…stay with me. Please.”

“Me?” Ty sputtered. “Are you sure?”

At that, Kit pulled back. He held Ty’s gaze, which made Ty’s cheeks flush bright pink. He usually couldn’t stand making eye contact with people, but with Kit, he liked it because it meant he could study Kit’s eyes. Kit had beautiful eyes. They were a beautiful blue, and he was constantly getting lost in them.

“I’ve always needed you, Tiberius,” Kit whispered. He put his other hand, the one that Ty wasn’t clinging to, over Ty’s hand on his chest.

Ty’s heart started beating rapidly, not unlike Kit’s. He tightened his grip on Kit’s hand. “But then…why…” He swallowed, as his voice trailed off. He could hear his voice wavering. “Why did you leave?”

Kit opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He looked away from Ty, and Ty’s heart sank. He could see Kit starting to withdraw, to close himself off from Ty. Like he did that first time. Ty’s whole body ached as he remembered how hopeless and lost that had made him.

Not again, Kit, please. Ty thought to himself. I can’t lose you again. I love you.

“Kit, please,” Ty said aloud.

Kit hesitated. Then he sighed. “Because…I couldn’t be around you. It was too much.”

Ty flinched. Kit noticed and frowned. He squeezed Ty’s hand. Ty clung to Kit’s, afraid he was going to let go. But he didn’t.

“I was…angry. And sad…and embarrassed.” Kit admitted. He let go of Ty’s other hand on his chest to run his fingers through his hair. Ty noticed that Kit seemed kind of shaky. Almost like he was nervous.

“And I just felt like…you didn’t need me…so why was I even there?” Kit added, his voice slow and quiet, like he was forcing himself to say it aloud. “It felt like I needed you so much that I couldn’t breathe…and you didn’t even want me.”

Ty sucked in a breath. Kit…Kit thought he wasn’t wanted?? How was that possible?? Kit was incredible…how could he think he wasn’t wanted??

“Of course I wanted you,” Ty said, like it was obvious. “Kit, how could you think that??”

Kit let out a shaky laugh. “That’s…that’s not what I meant. I—”

“You told me you loved me,” Ty interrupted in a whisper, not unkindly.

“Yeah,” The other boy whispered. “Yeah, I did. Er…”

“You don’t anymore?” Ty asked him. His lip quivered. He had thought—

“No! No, yes. Yes. Wait, no. I mean–” Kit stuttered, his face turning red. “I do. I still do.”

“You do?” Hope flared up in Ty’s chest. He felt the beginning of a rare smile appear on his face.

Kit looked sheepish. “I never stopped, Ty. I love you, still. I tried to stop…I tried so hard, you have no idea…but you mean too much to me. It’s always been you, Tiberius Blackthorn.” Kit stared down at their interlaced hands.

Ty blinked, and found that his eyes had filled with tears. He hadn’t even noticed. He let them fall, because he needed to say what he wanted to say before he lost the nerve to. Or before he lost the chance. “I love you, Kit.”

Kit stared at him. “You do?”

“Yes,” Ty said. “I do. I love you. You have no idea how much. I’m not even sure I know how much. I just know that you’ve always been different from anyone else in my life. I always want to know what you’re thinking, I always want to hear your voice. You manage to make me laugh, to make me feel things I’ve never felt before. And you’re incredible, Kit. You really, truly are. I’m lucky to have known you, and I never want to lose you.”

Kit was silent. For a second, Ty was worried that Kit was upset with him, but then he smiled and Ty felt a warm, soft feeling go through him.

Both of them were crying by this point, but neither seemed to care. Ty pulled Kit towards him, putting his arm around Kit’s waist and holding him tightly. Kit’s shirt, which was a sky blue AC/DC shirt, was soft against Ty’s face. Kit’s arms went around him and he felt so, so happy, he couldn’t put it into words or coherent thoughts.

All Ty could think about was that he had Kit back, and he was never letting him go. Ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

thx for reading! :D

~ Scarlett

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wubblebubbleballxtream · 1 year ago

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THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE WITCHLIGHT

#once upon a witchlight #interestingly the event says it only lasts for an hour #but probably cus they already are streaming for a few hours before it for the 6 yr anniversary #so probably shorter thing #BUT WITCHLIGHT THIS MONTHHH #AND RIGHT AFTER THE FNAF MOVIE #legends of avantris

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girlkissergideon · 1 day ago

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watching the halloween one shot finally .... bitsys little cackle im gonna cry i love her so much 💗💗

#the nightmare before witchlight #legends of avantris #oneshot

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grimm-rider · 2 years ago

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Entry 9

The Witchlight manifest from the wall before us, along with two Will-o-Wisps. Because that’s just what we needed—more Will-o-Wisps.

Aenland went straight into shooting the specter, while Nestian, Greta, and Levi dealt with the Wisps. I tried to take control of the Witchfire—an incorporeal servant would have been incredibly useful, even if I could only keep her for a week—but she resisted my control.

Then a second incorporeal form manifest from the wall above the alter to Alzhra. A giant ghostly flytrap appeared, and grabbed Nestian in its vines, pulling him towards the alter. That seemed bad.

Aenland immediately laid into the plant, and managed to destroy its form before it could place our bear friend on the alter. I tried to use Sands of Time to finish off the Witchfire, but once again she resisted my magic. She countered with her own touch attack, which burned like hell and left behind a ghostly glow that I knew would make her next attack against me even more brutal.

She never got a chance. Nestian attacked her, and Aenland finished her off. The others destroyed the remaining Will-o-Wisps.

The room grew quiet. I took the moment of calm to begin investigating the alter, curious why the strange manifestation had tried to drag Nestian onto it. I found that it had a powerful curse on it, and quickly drew back warning the others not to touch it. If they did they would see a vision of a deal being made around the table—and then the curse would take hold and try to snuff out their life, in a similar manner to Edeya’s Phantasmal Killer.

I thought we were in agreement that while it might provide some interesting insight, it was a bit too steep of a risk to take.

Then Nestian asked Edeya for some guidance, and with no explanation given he stepped forward and placed his hands on the alter. He went rigid for a moment, staring at something we couldn’t see. Then he drew back. He was still alive, thankfully. Aenland immediately launched himself at our bear friend, practically climbing him while telling him not to do something like that again. I told him he should at least warn us next time so we could be ready for the consequences. I have a scroll of breath of life after all—although I’d rather not use it.

Nestian told us what he��d seen. Some sort of lizard man dressed as a Technic League agent, along with an invisible person he obviously couldn’t otherwise make out, were making a deal with Jadrenka’s mother, Caigreal. Caigreal wanted something as a failsafe for if Jadrenka became warden, in return for whatever her end of the deal was.

Nestian was frantic, because the Technic League wasn’t meant to exist for about another 3000 years. Which meant we weren’t the only ones messing with the timestream.

I surmised that this answered the mystery of the Dancing Hut appearing and no one coming out a week before we’d arrived: it hadn’t been us, it had been whoever this Technic League person was. They obviously had the means to turn invisible, so going in and out unseen would be child’s play. They were clearly in league with Queen Elvana, and had access to the Hut while it was in her hands. The question was why here, why now? What did they gain from helping Caigreal try to dethrone Jadrenka? How did this feed into their overall plans in any way?

…I should have tried talking to their corpses before we left, dammit. Things were so tense when we left that I didn’t even think of it. And I was incredibly tired.

I’ll get to that when we get to the Eon Pit.

Anyways, Nestian decided he wanted to break the alter. So he took Aenland’s adamantine warhammer and went to town.

I’m sure breaking the alter to a goddess of nightmares won’t have any negative repercussions at all. Making gods mad has never caused problems for anyone.

I didn’t say that. The others felt this was an evil artifact that needed to be destroyed. And admittedly it was really dangerous—if someone didn’t identify what it was and accidentally touched it, they could just up and die. So, I mean it’s not like what Nestian did was wrong. Just…reckless.

Afterwards, we had three exits from Alazhra’s temple. Two were locked doors, and one was a staircase upwards. One of the locks reacted to the key Jadrenka had given us. I felt we should investigate that door. Nestian wanted to investigate the other locked room first—reasoning that the last time we’d opened a locked door that wasn’t locked by that key, there had been someone imprisoned inside. I didn’t really see the point in going looking for every possible prisoner Jadrenka might have been keeping, but Nestian wanted to, so I conceded the point and he unlocked the door using the broom for the third and final time that day.

Aenland peeked inside, and came back describing the creatures he’d seen and heard within the room beyond. I had a memory of reading about them, and told the others that what was in the room beyond were Asuras—evil outsiders rooted in rejection and destruction. So not the kind of prisoner Nestian was looking to free.

We decided to save facing the asuras for later, and went to check the room the key had been reacting to. Within was a tomb—the place each former Warden of Artrosa had been laid to rest.

I asked Aenland to take a look at the doors lining the walls with his special eyes. He did, and came back saying it had a strong necromantic aura. I concluded that whatever trap was on it, I should probably be the one to try to open the doors. If anyone might not be affected by whatever it was—it was likely to be me.

Aenland disagreed, but Nestian and Edeya felt my logic was sound, so we went ahead with my plan of action. I went to one of the doors a little way’s away from the others—incase whatever it triggered had an area of effect—and I opened the door. I heard a whispering voice in my head say ‘Who dares disturb the resting place of the Wardens of Artrosa?’. Then I felt the door attempt to lay a curse on me—but I shrugged it off. Not like enough people haven’t tried curing me on this journey.

The others shouted a warning, and I turned around just in time to see three ghosts manifesting from the pillars behind me. One made a beeline for me. It reached out and touched me, its hand passing through me, leaving a feeling of deep cold. Then from where it touched the flesh began to age and decay, peeling away—much like when I cast Sands of Time on something.

It didn’t get a second chance to do that—a number of Ghost Touch arrows from Aenland shot through the specter. Levi and Greta were going after another one. Nestian charged the third. I stepped away and tried to take control of the one Greta and Levi were attacking—I felt it begin to slip under my command, but then it wrest its mind back.

Damn, I am not having much luck with these ghosts. I need to find a stronger way to take control of the undead.

Fortunately, the battle didn’t last long enough for it to matter. Another few attacks from my companions were enough to make the entities dissipate—for the time being at least.

I went back to checking doors. Nestian joined me, feeling that it would go quicker if two people were opening doors. I managed to find something in the second door I opened—a necklace of Feather Tokens.

Nestian found nothing—and was cursed for his trouble. He looked…well, quite frankly he looked horrific. I didn’t think a bear could look that…wrong. He looked like a man in a bear suit, his dimensions were all off. It was just off putting. I assured Nestian that I would remove the curse from him just as soon as I found what else was in this room—the Geass was egging me on, telling me there was something else to find.

Edeya took Nestian’s place and began opening doors as well. We both went around the door, throwing open doors, resisting curses, rinse, repeat, until we met in the back at the very last unopened door. Because of course it was the very last door we decided to open. I offered to be the one to open it—maybe I don’t actually have any sort of resistance to curses compared to some necromancy things, but it still felt like I ought to be the one to handle the necromancy curse in the crypt. It’s just kind of on brand. I opened the door, resisted the curse, and found…something strange in the final alcove.

There was a deactivated ice golem standing at a cauldron with a magic cookbook in its hands. Edeya took the cookbook as it was an item for arcane witchy magic, it could be useful to her. We also found a key…to the room we’d already unlocked…

Joy.

So we left the room and discussed if we should make a beeline to the room with the asuras now that it was clearly where we were meant to go, or if we should check up the stairs first. The others felt we should check up the stairs incase it yielded anything that might help against the outsiders. I agreed, and we forged ahead.

At the top of the stairs were two Frost Giants. They hadn’t seen us yet, so we ambushed them. We took out one before it could even react—and the other only got one attack on Nestian before it, too, fell.

We investigated the room, and determined it was formerly the lair of a Green Hag. That didn’t bode well. We’d seen evidence of a Night Hag, a Green Hag, and whatever Caigreal was. That was a whole coven. I said, hopefully, that Witchfires are dead hags—maybe one of them was dead and the coven was broken.

Yeah. Wishful thinking. We aren’t that lucky.

We also found a weird cauldron that can fly in this room. Aenland was extremely taken with it, because of course he was. He had *wings* and he decided he’d rather fly in a cauldron. He handed off his Wings of Flying to Nestian.

Nestian tried to convince me to ride in the pot with Aenland. He must be insane if he thinks there’s any way I’m subjecting myself to that. I can hardly stand Aenland when we’re not trapped in close quarters together. If we were in a cauldron together, in tight quarters, with no escape, I would strangle him with his own bowstrings within the hour.

By some miracle when I said there was no chance I was getting in that cauldron with him, Aenland didn’t push the issue. Maybe I finally got through to him.

Yeah. That’ll be the day.

The only concession I made was to Greta, that if it were a life and death situation where getting in the pot could save me, I’d get in the pot.

With nowhere left to go but the room with the asuras, we forged ahead. We tried to be stealthy about it—but there’s only so much you can do when the creatures you’re trying to sneak up to have three faces to spot you with. Even with tree cover, we heard them sound the alarm and begin making their way towards us.

Greta and Levi darted ahead and began attacking one around a tree. Then Greta’s body went rigid as she was hit with a Hold Monster spell.

And she was right next to one of the Asuras—right in the perfect position for it to take advantage of her vulnerable position. Nestian charged in and attacked the Asura, trying to move its attention onto him.

I heard a sound like the air behind me ripping apart, and suddenly I wasn’t alone in the back. One of the Asuras had teleported directly behind me.

Aenland put a number of arrows into her back before she could strike me.

I stepped away from her, but I couldn’t focus on her at the moment. I turned and drew a scroll from my bag. I attempted to Dispel Magic the Hold Monster effect on Greta. The scroll burned away—but the magic held strong. I could feel panic rising in my throat. The asura next to her didn’t look like she was distracted by Nestian and Levi—she was still eyeing up Greta.

Then right as the outsider was going for the swing, Greta broke free of the spell by her own willpower. The asura changed targets, going after Nestian instead with a half dozen furious stabs and swipes.

I felt what that was like a second later as the one I’d turned my back to made me pay for that decision. Swords and spears and kukri all stabbed and slashed through my flesh, ripping and tearing horribly. I hadn’t had that much pain dealt to me at once in a while. I stumbled forward, but kept my footing.

Aenland slayed the Asura before she could get a second chance to try that again. At the same time, Greta took care of the Asura she and Nestian had been dealing with.

That only left the leader—who, seeing the way the wind was blowing, fled for the door.

Greta, Levi, and Nestian cut off her escape—and probably some of her with their various sharp implements. Then Aenland finished with job with two arrows—she caught one, but the second went straight through her skull.

We regrouped and healed ourselves. I definitely needed it after all that. Edeya had healed me a little in the middle of battle (with the usual commentary that she felt weird about casting inflict on an ally—which, fair, casting it on anyone who isn’t undead and not harming them is probably always a bit of a shock. Works in my favor though.) but I still needed a top up. I healed myself while the others were getting healing from Edeya. One nice thing about my ‘condition’, I have a lot of ways of patching myself up without help. My death’s touch ability alone is a nice little pick-me-up. It’s certainly no good for doing damage against anything we’re facing now-a-days. I could use it to heal Levi, too, but honestly if he’s damaged in battle either he’s going down in two hits and healing him is a waste of time, or he’s going to survive until the end and his fast healing will take care of things quick enough to not matter. Why waste precious seconds in battle that I could be using to shatter someone’s bones or engulf them in the flames of Slay Living?

Once we were all healed and ready to go, we made our way to the Eon Pit for the second time.

Jadrenka was awaiting us. She was not as happy to see us this time as last. She was accusatory over us freeing Marislava and breaking the alter to Alazhra—although she even admitted herself to not caring for the alter. She asked why we were here. We told her yet again, we were here for the second key, the golden nugget. She told us we would find what we were seeking in the Eon Pit. But first we would have to pass a test. She seemed worked up. She said last time we had come when *that man* had come and taken twenty-five years of her life before absconding with her daughter to challenge her boss, leaving her all alone. So she’d give us a test alright.

Basically, she intended to take her anger at Kostchtchie out on us.

However, before she could summon whatever test she’d had in mind, someone else entered the room. Four someone elses.

Four hags, one of which was Caigreal.

She told her daughter that she had come to take back the Warden title. She was going to kill Jadrenka and show Baba Yaga that she deserved the title more.

Gotta love family drama.

Makes me really glad my family is normal.

Jadrenka said that she’d had a test lined up for us, but she changed her mind. Our test was to kill these hags who had intruded in her domain.

Caigreal asked if we were really going to do this. Nestian very simply responded ‘da’.

The Night Hag beseeched Alazhra for assistance in this battle, and was rewarded with four shadowy mares that appeared surrounding us, flickering in and out of the room’s natural darkness. The Green Hag pulled out a strange cylindrical device that she mounted on her shoulder—which I assume she got from the Technic League, as I can’t think of anywhere else but Numeria that you’d find a device like what she was holding.

Caigreal tried to hit us with a Hypnotic Pattern, but everyone in the spell’s effect resisted it. It was just enough of a distraction to make the strange explosive that shot from the Green Hag’s cylinder blindside me, however. The area around me went up in an explosion of flames. I think I heard Greta cry out in pain from the fire burning her. I decided that hag was going to die.

The Night Hag began chanting something, eyeing Nestian, but she didn’t get far into her spellcasting before Aenland put five arrows into her.

The Moon Hag cast confusion, but again we all resisted the effects.

Nestian attacked Caigreal, as did Levi and Greta.

The shadow mares whinnied, an unnatural echoing sound that clawed at my brain and tried to pull my worst fears from my head. I shook it off.

Greta did not. She saw something in that moment, and fled in utter terror.

Caigreal channeled negative energy—unaware of my ‘condition’. She did a little damage to everyone, but she healed all of my injuries completely. She looked nonplussed about that, and immediately followed it up with a spell.

I tried to resist, but suddenly my muscles locked up, and I was frozen in place like a statue. I was aware of my surroundings—painfully aware of the two shadow mares that were slowly approaching me now that I was defenseless—but I couldn’t force my body to move even an inch.

Distantly, like it was through water, I heard Aenland yell ‘don’t touch my family’, before shooting and slaying the Night Hag that was attacking Edeya, and then shooting and injuring one of the Shadow Mares that was stalking towards me.

Family. That’s rich. He has a funny way of treating ‘family’.

No longer under the threat of the Night Hag, Edeya cast Dispel Magic on me, and my muscles unlocked. I turned away from the shadowy horses, and made for the Green Hag. I was angry and wanted something to die, and she was the closest thing that wasn’t a ghostly horse.

I took out Keisuke’s watch with one hand, and the other was wreathed in black flames as I cast Slay Living. I knocked the cylindrical thing out of the way, and grabbed the hag by the throat. The flames licked at her and spread.

I saw red in the corner of my vision as the pocket watch took effect on the spell, breaking past the limitations of magic. Time seemed to slow as the hag was engulfed in the black flames. I could drink in every second of it, as her twisted magic-fueled body burnt away and left nothing but charred bone and ash behind.

This watch could get addicting.

Time returned to its normal pace, and it was only a moment later that Nestian killed Caigreal. Aenland spent his arrows shooting the mares, as he could make them strike true despite the shadowy horses’ ability to blend with the darkness around them.

The Moon Hag turned her attention to me. She began ranting about the Mad Moon. Her words echoed in my head. I couldn’t shut them out. My mind felt foggy and confused. Some kind of curse sunk its hooks into me.

Even after Nestian slayed the final hag, her words echoed in my ears. I tried to resist the curse, tried to push it out of my head, to no avail. I told the others to go ahead of me into the Eon Pit. I wasn’t going to do well in there in this state.

It seemed while we’d been fighting, those two we’d seen in the vision last time we were here—the centaur and the giant many-legged centaur thing—appeared and flung Jadrenka into the Eon Pit. Now there were sounds of combat below.

Edeya and Nestian entered the Pit—Edeya left Snezhinka with me. Looking back, I feel like that’s a lot of trust on her part, to leave the source of her magic with me. And the fox she cares about so much—although I’m a bit suspicious of Snezhinka right now, myself. But I guess it’s only fair, since I’ve been confiding in Edeya for a while now.

Aenland flew over the Pit, and after staring down intensely at it he yelled ‘What’s the meaning of this Jadrenka?’ I heard Jadrenka yelling back something like ‘What are you talking about, they attacked me’. Then Aenland shot an arrow into the pit.

Around this time the voices in my head were fading. I drank a few potions of Lesser Restoration, which cleared up the fog in my brain, and then I set Snezhinka down and made my own way into the pit to see for myself just what was happening.

I felt the winds of time tear at me as I made my way down, more intense than last time. I felt incredibly tired—I could feel that I hadn’t resisted the pit’s aging effects, but I didn’t see the exact extent of the change until later. I could tell my hair had grown out suddenly, that’s about it.

I made it to the bottom of the pit just as Jadrenka was storming off back to exit the pit. There was no sign of an arrow sticking out of her or blood, so I didn’t figure she was the one who’d been shot. There was no sign of the centaur or large creature.

There was also no sign of the golden nugget. Apparently it had been the target of the attack—it had been taken.

Still, we were already at the bottom of the pit, so we might as well take something, I decided. I took a Ring of Revelation—a ring made of bone that could give me another use of my Soul Siphon ability. Nestian took a magical chain shirt, and Edeya took a Ring of Freedom of Movement.

You know, I don’t think she’s actually ever been hit with Hold Person. It’s always either me or Aenland.

Not that I want it, I have enough rings. I had to take off my Ring of Protection as it is.

With items in hand, we made our way back up to the top of the pit. Aenland had landed and had some words for Jadrenka. Apparently he’d seen an older Jadrenka through some sort of rift, and the two that attacked this Jadrenka were actually an illusion created by that Jadrenka. The older Jadrenka had stolen the golden nugget.

Jadrenka seemed confused and resistant to believing us. There was a maiden, mother, and crone, but they were all one. Aenland tried to explain that it was her fron another time. Jadrenka told us to just leave, and go to whatever time we needed to, to enter the Crone and go get our golden nugget.

Aenland didn’t find that answer acceptable. He felt we were being yanked around on a chain by Jadrenka. He felt if we killed her here and now, then it would keep her from stealing the golden nugget in the first place and we would be done with it and not have to go through this stupid statue a third time.

He made a very compelling argument.

Nestian put his foot down. He didn’t believe we should kill someone for a crime they hadn’t committed yet. He believed that was wrong, and could lead down a dark path.

I think Nestian is leaning too much on morality and is ignoring what is logically the best course of action, but I also think if we didn’t do what Nestian wanted we’d be fighting Jadrenka without one of our two best fighters—and the one who is really good at protecting me and Edeya. And I didn’t want that. Jadrenka was the Warden, she was in her domain. Even if she had a few screws loose, she wouldn’t go down without a tough fight, I was certain.

So I didn’t speak up in agreement with Aenland.

Aenland saw that no one was agreeing with him, and he actually got upset. He stormed off over it. We followed him towards the exit.

On the way out, who might we run into but Xanthadon. Aenland got hostile, telling her we’d just been betrayed by someone we thought was a friend, and he didn’t want to repeat the experience.

Oh, so that’s what this is about. It’s like Miriam all over again. Did he really think Jadrenka was our friend? She was friendly enough in the first statue, sure, but she also threw a gorgon and a bunch of half-fiend fey at us, and only helped the man she had the hots for. I don’t think she was ever our friend, or our ally. She was just doing her job.

Anyways, after Aenland continued storming off, I stuck around with Nestian and Edeya to talk to Xanthadon. Apparently she was here looking for something because her mother had made a wish to a Glabrezu—a nasty demon that corrupts souls by giving them their deepest desires and then twisting it, or if they actually grant the wish to the letter they mark their victim and demand payment later, placing a Geass on them. Her mother then banished her from her tribe.

That’s pretty nasty. What did I say before about family drama?

Xanthadon asked if we’d found what we were looking for. We admitted we had not, but we wished her the best of luck.

Xanthadon hesitated a moment, then told us that she didn’t think we were insane anymore. She had the first time we’d met, but she’d seen a lot since then. She gave me her rapier, saying she wouldn’t need it anymore after today.

So…now we have her rapier twice over. I wonder how that works, timeline wise? If Aenland weren’t in such a mood I’d show it to him, but I think I’m going to wait on it for a bit.

After Xanthadon left, we met back up with Greta. She apologized for running—apparently she’d seen the entire room as being on fire, and thought I’d want her to do the safe thing and get herself out.

So those mares made her hallucinate fire…

She’s already been burned a number of times on this journey…she even put herself between Nestian and a fire-breathing construct once without even thinking about it. If fire is what scares her most, then I’ll just have to try to find something to do about it…

But that’s something to figure out later.

For now, we said our goodbyes to Erdjia, letting her know she likely would never see us again. But she has her tribe, so what’s she need with a handful of weird two-legged people (and one occasionally four-legged person)?

We made our way back to the Dancing Hut, and rested for the night. I finally got a chance to take a look at the damage from the Eon Pit. It wasn’t that bad, really. My hair’s grown out and greyed a bit more, but I think I’ve aged fairly gracefully. And not all that much, really. Maybe, what, five years? Probably enough that I’m older than Edeya, but I might still be younger than Nestian…I don’t know how old Nestian is now that I think about it. He just seems more mature. Obviously comparing to Aenland isn’t a fair comparison. And…admittedly, I don’t actually know how Winter Wolves age, and considering we just had a conversation with Nestian about how it’s rude to ask a woman’s age now I’m too afraid to ask.

I spent some time reading and hanging out with Greta, then went to bed.

The next day, we threw the clock into the cauldron. Aenland did not punt it in this time, so apparently he’s still in a mood. I tossed the clock in, Nestian stirred the soup, and the hut appeared in another time.

We stepped outside, and Edeya suggested we go straight there—she’d learned Teleport, so now she could take us straight to Artrosa without us having to walk that entire way, or having to stop by the centaur encampment and learn what all had changed in the I-don’t-know-how-many years it’s been.

We held hands, and a moment later appeared standing before the three now familiar giant statues. We made our way up to the top of the Crone Statue, passed the stupid riddle of the stupid Witch Tree for a third time (she was grumpy about it and tried to make us wait for five minutes before admit she couldn’t do that and moving aside), and entered.

I noted that there was a centaur corpse in the tree—but this one looked like it was from a different tribe than the ones we’d been friendly with, and it had the sigil of Kostchtchie branded on it.

Inside, we found ourselves in a large moonlit field—surrounded by the corpses of dead ravens. Charming.

Jadrenka spoke to us—just her voice, we didn’t see her in person this time. She told Aenland he was a good shot, and told the rest of us that we should have listened to Aenland back then. Now we were coming to kill her and take the golden nugget in her domain.

Nestian said it didn’t have to be like this. We didn’t have to fight.

She said of course it did.

The ravens began reanimating, forming a swarm. On the opposite end of the room, a door seemed to rip open in the wall. We made a break for it.

Greta and I were lagging behind. Nestian grabbed Greta, and Aenland scooped me into the cauldron. As I’d promised Greta, I made no complaints about having to ride in the pot if it was a life-or-death situation.

Once we were in the next room, Aenland let me out of the cauldron with absolutely no bragging about how he’d been right that I should have used the cauldron from the start.

We investigated the room and found a pillar with some runes on it. I was able to translate with my last comprehend languages scroll:

As the seasons of life chance

So must we sacrifice our past

For the wisdom of our winter years

Blessed be the path you’re about to walk

Cling not to what you were

But only what you shall become

After having just been forcefully aged, I didn’t really like the sound of some of that to be perfectly honest.

I felt vindicated in my suspicions when Edeya told us this was referring to a Croning Ritual—a ritual undergone by witches passing from the mother years of their life and into the crone years. They would have to pass through five trials—each person would have to pass one, and would be unable to pass more than one. The trials were the tests of age, fertility, health, strength, and life.

There were some I knew right off the bat I didn’t want to do. Namely age, fertility, and life. I’d already been aged by the Eon Pit, I didn’t need any more of that. I am quite happy with my fertility as-is thank you very much. And life…yeah, I don’t want anything potentially shortening my life any. The goal is elongating my lifespan, not doing things to shorten it.

Which left health or strength. I was fine sacrificing either of those.

Nestian took the Age sigil. He passed, and nothing happened except the mark of the setting sun appeared on his hand. Aenland took the Fertility sigil, and again nothing happened except the setting sun mark appearing on his hand. As we considered who to take the health test, Greta pushed forward and declared she was doing it. Before anyone could say otherwise, she placed her hand on the sigil. Nothing happened, except the mark of the setting sun appeared on her hand. Next up was the strength sigil. Edeya and I were the only ones left. I admitted to her that I didn’t want to do the life sigil. She said she was fine with taking the life sigil, and let me take this one. I place my hand on it—and like the others nothing happened, except the mark of the setting sun appeared on my hand.

This was getting anti-climactic, I was beginning to think these traps didn’t actually do anything and the test was actually a test of courage or something.

Then Edeya placed her hand on the Test of Life. The mark of the setting sun appeared on her hand…as she got hit with a full force Slay Living.

I recognized it immediately, I am deeply familiar with that spell by now, after all.

She survived the black flames engulfing her, but she was hurting.

She took a moment to heal up, even as the doors ahead unlocked for us.

As she did, Nestian and I noticed a body in the corner. We went to investigate. As we went to turn it over, Aenland stopped us. He told us that there was lingering magic on the corpse.

We set it back.

Blood began to pool under it. Blood mixed with something yellow.

#journal entry #pathfinder #reign of winter

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