#oc: mirth

[loghainmactirs-archive]

⊶⊰❣⊱⊷

[ortanthaig]

[goatsorcery]

Joy's Backstory

Born in Baldur's Gate as Charai (an infernal name meaning: "one who derives joy from pain"), Joy grew up in a big family within a larger enclave of Tieflings. Their family was extensive, and included their mother, father, and three younger siblings, as well as their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Unfortunately, prejudice and hatred was prevalent in Baldur's Gate, and Joy's family was murdered when their enclave was destroyed by people seeking to exterminate the "devil spawn" from their city.

Joy was not the only survivor, and fled the city with their mother, Irini, and their only surviving sibling, Elpizon. Irini sought refuge for them deep in the forest, which proved just as dangerous. In order to survive, Irini dedicated herself as a cleric of Mielikki, vowing to walk and protect the forests for the rest of her life. She took on the virtue name, Harmony, and taught both Charai and Elpizon the ways of the forest, how to live in harmony with it and all living things, instead of against. When Charai and Elpizon got older, they also dedicated themselves to Mielikki, and took on the names Joy and Hope respectively.

Harmony, Joy, and Hope were all devastated by the tragedy that happened to their family. While Harmony saw the way to avenge their family was to put good back into the world through their actions, and in turn, to show that tieflings could be a force of good, Hope and Joy didn't feel the same. Both hated the people of Baldur's Gate for allowing such things to happen, and vowed revenge on their family's killers. Harmony tried to convince them not to go, to embrace the love of the forest instead of their hatred, but they could not be swayed.

In their journey back to Baldur's Gate, Joy and Hope got caught up in a band of mercenaries who offered protection and guidance in exchange for Joy and Hope's magical talents. When they reached the city, they found only rumors of those who killed their family. Years had passed, and nothing concrete remained. Hope opted to stay with the mercenaries, in the hopes that their mission would lead her to cross paths with those who murdered her family. Joy stayed in Baldur's Gate to follow any leads, no matter how faint, and learn everything about magic that they could.

It wasn't long until Joy grew tired of the city, of the treatment they received, and of the lack of leads. Hope was long gone with the mercenaries, and Joy left Baldur's Gate to return to Harmony in the forest. But, Harmony was no where to be found -- rather, she did not wish to be found. Ashamed of her children's actions, she gave herself to Mielikki completely, and became part of the forest itself. Joy wandered the forests, looking for Hope, Harmony, and purpose, using their knowledge to nurture and care for the landscape that surrounded them. In the years that followed, they found friends in the animals and plants of the forest and had little interaction with other people.

Joy's closest companion through the years was a hyena which they called Mirth. The friendship wasn't instantaneous, both were hostile upon first crossing paths. But, Joy saw themselves in the hyena; a creature of the forest like any other, who, in the right circumstances, could corrupt into a gnoll -- Joy worried of a similar path to corruption for themselves. With Joy's training in animal handling, they were able to convince Mirth that they meant no harm, and traveled the forest together. Joy and Mirth protected each other from any threat that came their way.

Anytime they ran into anyone, Joy asked if they knew of the destruction of their enclave, and if not, passed along the story of tragedy, hatred, and devastation. But, Joy mostly avoided contact with other people. It wasn't that Joy hated people, but they distrusted them, and more than that, they distrusted themselves. They hated the people who murdered their family and destroyed their enclave with all their heart and didn't want to take that anger out on those who had nothing to do with it. But, they found, that no matter what conflict they found themselves in, they took a sick joy from the violence. It didn't quench their thirst for revenge, but whetted it enough to scare them.

While in Baldur's Gate, Joy had been no stranger to love and lovers, but any long term relationship had to come second to their dedication to Mielikki and to their mission to avenge their family. They found no one willing to share them with their missions, until they met Siravah, a half-elf from Waterdeep. Like Joy, Siravah had lost their family to violence, it was a common enough tale in Faerun, and ran to the forest looking for answers, determined to make the goddess Mielikki herself appear to face Siravah's judgement. Siravah and their family had long been dedicated to Mielikki, and sought to uphold her ideals, even in Waterdeep, far from the depths of the forest.

In looking for answers, Siravah didn't find Mielikki, but found Joy instead. With a hyena in tow, and the grace of the forest in their heart, Joy was quickly mistaken for Mielikki by Siravah, and attacked them. Joy saw the same burning desire for revenge in Siravah's eyes as they felt in their own soul, and refused to fight back. Voluntarily unarmed, Siravah couldn't bring themselves to kill Joy, and Joy in turn offered to guide Siravah in reconnecting with Mielikki, their magic, and nature. In reconnecting with these parts of themself, Siravah found connection with Joy as well. They both had a caring soul that burned hot for revenge but ultimately searched for peace and purpose.

Joy and Siravah traveled the forests together, healing the parts lost and destroyed to war and industry. While Joy found comfort in their purpose, they longed to reunite with Harmony and Hope. Similarly, Siravah's desire for revenge only grew over the years. Joy prayed to Mielikki for guidance, and their mother's fate was revealed to them; Irini, Harmony, submitted herself to the forest as a servant and self-appointed bride of Mielikki. As for Hope, her fate was unknown. Wherever her mercenary group had ventured, it was beyond Mielikki's reach.

Siravah, however, knew well the fates of their family. For them, there was no hope, and so prayed to Mielikki to reveal their family's killers. Mielikki granted Siravah a vision of their target, with the hope that Siravah would chose their love and dedication to the forest, and by extension to Joy, over their desire for revenge. But, that was not the outcome. Siravah, seeing clearly the faces of those who destroyed their life, left the forest and Joy without doubt or regret. They begged Joy to join them, but Joy had found harmony, literally and figuratively, and knew they couldn't help sate Siravah's thirst for revenge without provoking their own. Whether or not Siravah was successful is unknown to Joy.

Joy continued their mission to protect and care for the forest with Mirth at their side. They considered seeking out and joining the Walkers of the Forest Way, but Joy worried about possible negative attitudes towards tieflings, and didn't wish to provoke any fights. Joy traveled through the forests, healing and helping everything and everyone they could, until the nautilus ship plucked them from their life. Mirth's fate is unknown.

[luhvellan]

[rainbow-colored-writer]

World building snippet I really liked:

The Paradise Realm was an almost perfect replica of Earth’s bountiful wilderness. The only difference was how blindingly bright the colors were, too hyperreal to ever exist in the mortal realm. 

Mirth didn’t find Mother Eden at first, too humiliated by Muse’s rejection to face another old god. His spirit felt slippery in his mortal shell, like it was ready to burst out at any moment. But he had spent so long painstakingly weaving the disguise that he wasn’t ready to give it up.

While he did avoid Eden, there was no escaping another resident of her realm. Juniper flashed down from the sky as a bolt of lightning that shook the ground in front of Mirth as she landed. The light collapsed back inward to form a young girl. 

“Cousin Mirth! Why are you wearing that shabby human shell? You look ill.” She circled him, dodging out of the way as he swatted at her. 

“It is not shabby! I think it's very good for my first time making one.” He crossed his arms and tilted up his chin, ignoring how the boundless spirit trapped within kept banging on the walls of its cage. 

“Ooh did big sister Muse take you to the mortal realm? What did you see? I heard it's all run down since Mother Eden stopped visiting.” 

Mirth huffed. “It was fun! Humans are weird but that’s whatever.” 

They were walking side by side now down a shady forest path that opened up to let them through then covered itself with foliage in their wake. 

Juniper poked him, electricity making him lock up for a moment. “Are you stuck in there? We should find Mother Eden and have her help you out.” 

“I’m fine!” Mirth said. He knew the second he vacated the disguise it would break apart. And then Muse would know just how inexperienced he still was and never let him go to Earth with them again. 

“Nonsense.” Juniper grabbed his hand and sped off, Mirth’s protest swallowed by rushing wind as he was dragged along behind her like a sail. 

They skidded to a stop in a rolling meadow, Mirth nearly falling flat on his face. Mother Eden sat serenely among the tall grasses, hundreds of tiny insects flitting about and landing on her in greeting. She turned to the two children with a soft smile. “Hello little ones.” 

Old gods were always so imposing, so ancient it felt like they could move mountains with a glance. Mirth felt the last of their resolve shatter. Their mortal shell rapidly dissolved into its base components: laughter carried on a breeze, blurry neon lights, and particles of stardust.

What was left was his true form. Exhausted and discouraged, he chose to be a small blob of indistinct colors sulking on the ground. 

Eden tutted, “Child, you are far too young to be disguising yourself and galavanting around in the material world. Your spirit has yet to even settle itself.” 

Mirth chirped petulantly. The only part of him that wasn’t a blob was the jagged line where Muse had cut him away. The wound still hadn’t healed and he couldn’t hide it in any form. 

Eden scooped them up with one hand, pouring them into half of a coconut shell. “Rest, little Mirth. I’ll talk to Muse so she’ll stop being so reckless with you.” 

She handed the shell to Juniper. “Run along now.” 

“Wanna see the cloud fort I made today?” Juniper asked the blob. Mirth didn’t respond, but she launched up into the atmosphere with him in her hands anyway. 

From my WIP called "The Shattered Cycles of Gods and Mortals"

WRITEBLR! how are you guys? what are you all working on these days?

use this post to share a snippet of your writing you're proud of (& link to your intros -- i'll boost!)

[the-muffin-master]

playing bg3 with your best friends really heightens the experience, I recommend it

brranwin (half-orc) is the lovely, ever so patient @muffinapologist

ezorr (dragonborn) is my favorite person to torment @ink-cartoon

[gianttol]

gt july 2024 - mirth

[korbydaze]

A mask of my own face

[enteragoodnamehere]

@labratdogheart hi *grabs yuo

Okay so in my worldbuilding there’s two main kingdoms: Alterra (the one Jubilee and Mirth are from) and Evertide (their enemy). Evertide has a strict “dragons are vermin and must be exterminated for all peoples to live freely and happily” policy but Alterra is mostly dominated by people who worship a mythical cosmic dragon deity called the Dawnbringer. The two are basically in constant on-and-off war with each other bc of this, with Evertide invading Alterra occasionally to kill their population of dragons. In one such invasion the former king and queen of alterra, aka Mirth’s parents, are killed, and it throws the region into political chaos (and also religious chaos as the former king was supposed to be The Prophet for the Dawnbringer but died before he could complete his “ascension” (becoming close enough to the gods by horrible physical transformation to be able to commune with them))

Now Mirth’s their only child so theoretically she should’ve been the next in line for ruling. However Alterra’s inheritance traditions are Weird and demand a blood relative to the former rulers be married before succeeding the crown, and Mirth isn’t married for Plot Reasons (she’s having a secret forbidden relationship with the queen of Evertide), so instead ruling power is passed to the General, theoretically just until Mirth becomes married.

The General is an older man who is very close to Mirth, having helped raise her. His second in command is Jubilee, a woman Mirth’s age. The two used to be childhood best friends, but not too long ago Mirth yelled at Jubilee for trying to be too close of friends with her, as Jubi is technically a commoner/from “common blood” despite her high military status.

So it’s been like a week or two with The General ruling and Jubilee’s still reeling from being rejected by who she thought was her best friend. In this time a strike back against Evertide for killing the rulers is conducted, and both the General and Jubilee go. At some point the two get separated from the skirmish and the General is mildly badly injured. Not bad enough to kill him but still pretty serious. And an idea pops into Jubilees head that if she were to become the general rank, Mirth could be friends with her as then she would have some power. So she kills The General and pretends it was Evertide that did it. Overall, besides the murder the battle is considered a success for Alterra and Jubilee comes back not only being made general but being considered a national hero for taking lead after The General’s death and for getting revenge for the previous rulers.

Later, behind closed doors, now-General Jubilee tells Mirth about what she’s done and says that they can be friends now, and promises that she’ll help Mirth lead even if she doesn’t want to get married. Mirth basically tells Jubilee that she’s a gross little freak and she wants nothing to do with her, and leaves. Jubilee, rejected and hurt Again, decides to try and get back at Mirth by spreading rumors that Mirth’s the next prophet for the Dawnbringer. Mirth’s a really private person who doesn’t like being the center of attention, but this forces her to the forefront since the people are desperate for reassurance from their god.

Eventually Jubilee is asked to comment on this, and she continues lying about it as Mirth is still refusing to talk to her. By some (perhaps awful) miracle, the clouds line up in a certain way that it manages to convince basically everyone that it’s an omen and that Mirth is in fact the Prophet. whether or not she actually was supposed to be is irrelevant, as the force of belief of the people start to trigger the horrible transformation into a capital p Prophet for Mirth, who refuses to leave the castle and curses Jubilees name.

There’s more to them (like Jubilee hiring an assassin to kill the queen of Evertide when she finds out about Mirth’s fling with her, Mirth’s relationship with her parents and general culture, whether or not the Dawnbringer actually exists, etc.) but I’ve yapped a lot here lmao. They’re awful and I hate them (affectionate)

I really need to talk about my ocs more lol. I was listening to eat shit and die by harley poe and I was gonna come on here and be like God Damn this is such a perfect song for Princess Mirth and General Jubilee but like. no one but me knows who those people are

[arctic-shard]

now that me @raindrops666 and dr west are wifes of the lords maybe we should discuss...wife things? maybe exchange some tips and tricks or ideas for romance and the lords can do the same together how to impress their wifes

Tips for romancing Odious:

I dunno, try to kill it sometimes.

[moonssnail]

One for Sorrow, Two for Mirth (webcomic I’m making) and the albums fuelling me while I work on it. Pictured here is mostly Casey (she/they) but Aspen (they/them) makes an appearance a couple times.

Do you know all the albums?

[loghainmactirs-archive]

i'm too in love w her..

[ortanthaig]

she's my favourite barbie fr

[smoresie]

bitches today are down so bad for a disembodied head with hands and the sharpest teeth (its me I'm the bitches)

[luhvellan]

OC MOODBOARD: MIRTH & CERELIA (Baldur’s Gate 3)

“…The circus goers erupted into a roar of cheer as the music of the violin waned and the honey-sweet voice of the Eladrin lulled, the sounds of applause and gold coins raining upon the cobble filling the air in their stead.

Cerelia, huffing from her performance, turned to Mirth and outstretched her hand to her partner with a warm smile, the Tiefling grasping it in return. The pair faced their audience again with a grin, hands interlocked, as Mirth pulled them both down into a deep bow, her violin hugging her chest…”

[celestinagoldentrail]

I brought some champorado to Alagadda so I hope you like it and your lords of alagadda.

*give some champorado in a small jar* :D

You have summoned the whole gang (excluding the Ambassador and The King) :) SORRY, MY EYES ARE BLIND-- I DIDN'T NOTICE IT SAID SMALL JAR 💀💀💀

Rubedo: Ooh! New food!

Retale: Seems like it!

Zachary: Ooh! What's that??? Oh hey! Liam, remember this? We used to eat this as kids way back on earth!

Liam: Oh yeah! Not enough evaporada though.

Citrinitas: What...?

Dollie: Ooh! That looks delicious! Thank you, darling!

Albedo: Odd.. acceptable.

Bianca: Ah, I missed this food. Oh, hey, Hun!

Bianca's gf (Sylvanna): Hi, Bia!

Alexander: What in all tarnation is that?

Minerva: It doesn't look so appetizing... But hey, who am I to judge?

Celestina: EVERYONE OF YOU, GET OUT OF MY SHOP!!!