#rare malu

[mrtonestill60s]

Malu Trevejo

[donaldroufis]

💐💕

[captain-angler]

quickest way to make malus and omar angry?

Omar: Hurting his ego, bringing up the ocean/his home village, insulting his mother, ignoring him

Malus: Altering/taking his research journal without his permission, invading his personal space, vulgarity, loud people

[jenoutof10]

bro ur art so cakep and pretty thank you very kamsa for ur service

WAILAH ad orang indo

[redfluffz]

Malu

And here we have Mikes assistant. He is very friendly and lighthearted. Mike actually is very annoyed by him, but since it's an order from God himself, he has to endure him.

And sometimes Malu achieves a smile from Mike, when they have fun together. (It's rare, but it happens)

[sharoscylla]

it's been over a year since BG3's full release so i'm gonna say it

i don't think myrkul actually did resurrect isobel thorm from the dead. based on her description of what happened - and the facts that in that same cemetery they made a point of having a tomb with someone wearing Boots of Feign Death + malus had that sharran paralysis amulet - I think she was put in a form of Feign Death either by an agent of Shar, Shar herself, or Malus as a way to prod ketheric into joining malus in shar worship. (also that shar specifically didn't let isobel die JUST to spite selune and melodia who would naturally be waiting for isobel in the afterlife) I think it's as simple as somebody realizing 120~ years later that she only SEEMS dead in there and lying their ass off to convince ketheric that they resurrected her instead of waking her up, with myrkul backing up the lie because honestly he doesn't have very many active worshippers at any given time, and none so powerful as ketheric is or was.

i also don't think isobel is ketheric's only child! dialogue + ingame journals make it pretty clear to me that gerringothe and thisobald are ketheric's chlidren, based on the fact that they're more elfish than isobel and ketheric I'm guessing those two maybe had a different mother than isobel, and ketheric was a shit dad but neither selunite or sharran even though his uncle malus was a sharran. Ketheric meets melodia, converts to selunite worship for her, eventually they have isobel and he's supposedly a pretty good dad to her, which, you know, probably raises the hackles on his adult children who had to live with a cruel and demanding father. thisobald had his own terrible shit he was up to prior to being trapped there forever in the shadowcurse, but other than being a bitchy embezzling boss gerringothe was just... trying to save up money to flee town and never come back, and the shadowcurse trapped her there before she could find the courage to actually make the leap.

speaking of which, the thorms are czarr-levels of incest coded. I know I've been saying I'll write the Thorms Were All Molested By Ketheric And Malus manifesto for a year now, but that will have to wait for when I'm slightly less busy. ... or, well, it'll feature in the Ripley Savage AU, but they're just now getting into the Underdark in that one, so, you know, it's a ways away.

This is not Gortash Apologia (...probably just a bit) but do you really expect me to believe Zariel went "Yeah sure, I'll take this 21 year old tiefling with no specific skillset that's exactly like a million other mortals, and not only will her soul not be in danger from this deal but I'll make sure she doesn't die of shit that would normally kill a person to death, just so i can spend a couple years grooming her into a super strong warrior that will do cool tricks for a few years before her inevitable mortal demise, at which point i still won't have possession of her soul so it'll be fucking off to the fugue plane at that point, here's A Big Pile Of Super Rare Infernal Metal I Invented During My Reign Over The Last 130-140 Years, I'll also let you study the blueprints of the guy who is designing her heart engine because that's definitely the kind of information I want floating around the Material Plane where anybody could get their hands on it/you".......... no man. I think Gortash paid/convinced Zariel to take Karlach and make her strong. Zariel probably did not want Raphael building himself a stronghold in what should have been her domain, so I can believe that they came to an agreement as a way of mutually spiting or undermining him, and I think - considering the steel watchers were just in the prototype stage when Florrick last was in Baldur's Gate within a tenday or two, i do not believe for a second gort just sat around on the materials and plans for a decade without *starting* the project - that he didn't actually get his hands on the plans or materials for the watchers until his durgeheist much much more recently, say 1-2 years ago at the most. "But karlach said Zariel said XYZ when-" zariel lied. why would the archdevil of avernus be the one telling the whole truth here. at that moment Gort was Karlach's Main Person (her parents dead, she flat out says she loved him and respected him and was happily building her life around being his trusted bodyguard) and Zariel needed to make sure Karlach would be easier to control re: depending utterly on Zariel to survive etc. once she had the engine installed it'd be even easier to control her - soul coins, keeping her in the middle of the blood war front lines instead of screwing around asking questions or making alliances - and of course, zariel couldn't have known that karlach was ultimately indomitable, even if it took a decade for her to slip her chains.

I know... I know, it was already the product of years of labor, and stuff like multiple act 3 storylines didn't end up getting the amount of attention they deserved... but i wish there was a magical item crafting system beyond "1 sussur weapon/eye of the absolute spear/mourning frost/exactly 2 grymforge items"+alchemy. We found all that mundane jewelry and all those gems and I don't care if it would have all been mid equipment, I want to have been able to make the campers all wear matching Rings Of +1 Besties. I also hunger greatly for "hey, if you're going to spend 30+ hours in Act Three anyway, and you have the money for it, why not just buy an apartment or house for you and the squad and decorate it as you see fit" + the fallout 4 style settlement creator post-game. Even if I couldn't get past the level 12 cap I'd still be out there hunting monsters to make my village safe + get supplies to make my village/house cool looking + attract stronger villagers. please let me create a city-state. i desire it so much.

[blackjackkent]

So... I was already going to write something about Hector and Karlach, and Hector being forcibly reminded that Karlach would rather die free than go back to Avernus and live, and Karlach laughing it off in the dryad's vision, and Hector feeling like shit about it.

And then this happened when I went back to camp:

"Ngh. Soldier... my engine. It hurts... I think this might be it. Soon. Thing's burning hotter than I knew it could."

"But look - we've just about made it to the city. That'll do me. Let's go protect it. Whatever happens after that is between me and the so-called gods."

"You don't think we'll find you a cure?"

"With this heat going, I can't spare the energy to think. I just want to enjoy whatever's left of this life of mine. Anyway, it could be worse. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. With who I'm meant to be with. How many people can say that?"

-------

She laughs again, grins and shakes it off, and suddenly he can't take it anymore.

"Damn it, no!" he snaps. "Stop that! Stop laughing about it, as if it doesn't matter!"

She blinks, draws back a little, startled. Hector very rarely loses his temper; the last time she saw it was in the House of Healing against Malus's terrible cruelty. Not here, not in camp, where they're safe and they're together. "Soldier--"

"Don't 'Soldier' me." Hector's jaw works and then he looks away from her abruptly, staring down at the ground. "This isn't funny, Karlach. It isn't a joke. You heard what Dammon said. If we don't find a cure, you'll die."

Karlach's smile fades. "You think I don't know what death means, Hec?" she says more sharply. "I've seen way more of it than you have. I know what Dammon said, and I also know what I said. I'm not going back, not ever. Not even to save my life."

"I know. Believe me, I heard every word when you told me." Hector's lips draw into a tight line. "I'm not talking about that."

She hesitates, puzzled. "What are you talking about, then?"

"How am I supposed to feel, when you look at me, and say you're about to die, and laugh?" He looks up at her, his eyes burning with frustration and pain. "Do you expect me to laugh too? Do you expect me to pretend like it makes no difference?"

She frowns. "No, I--"

"Because I can't," he continues hoarsely. "I can't laugh. I can't shake it off the way you can. I..." He pauses, rubs a hand down his face, desperately trying to regain his habitual control, but it feels completely lost to him right now.

"I will never, not once, tell you what decision you need to make. This is your choice. Your life. I wouldn't take that away from you." He shakes his head. "I respect you too much for that. It's your body and your soul, your free will and your choice. But I need you to respect me too, enough to believe that what you choose affects me too."

He feels his voice crack, and dashes his hand in frustration and shame against his eyes, feeling dampness in them. "I love you," he whispers, clenching his fists at his side in the struggle for control. "I love you, Karlach... so much, so deeply... I didn't know feelings like this existed in the world until I met you. I was taught to be self-reliant, to need no one's reassurance, to keep my heart wrapped up in books and faith and dust, but then I found you, and there's no going back to that. I'm lost in you." He hesitates. "As... as I hope you're lost in me."

He can see her expression twisting with emotion but he doesn't give her time to speak. It's all coming out now, everything he usually doesn't have the words - or the bravery - to articulate. "I'm not trying to change your mind. I've learned so much from you, from everything we've experienced out here - and one of the things I've learned is that there are things more important than living or dying. That there are things worth dying for. If this is yours... I won't stand in the way."

He swallows. "But I need you to understand that... I don't know what I will do without you. And when you laugh, when you act as if it doesn't matter that you will be gone... it tears my heart out."

Silence. He's run out of words and stares at the ground in front of her feet, his shoulders tight with the effort of keeping his voice steady.

When she finally answers, her voice is softer. "Dammit, I'm... I'm sorry, Hec. I really am. This, how I am..." She gestures vaguely at her own chest. "In Avernus, it was the only way to stay sane. You had to laugh about it all, or you'd go mental." She snorts bitterly. "I told you, that's the only reason I hung around with Flo. She was a bastard, just a complete motherfucker... but she made me laugh. And I couldn't make it otherwise. It would've crushed me."

She pauses for a moment and then goes on. "I don't want to die, Hec. I really don't. I never had the chance to live like this, loving someone, loving you, and doing good work, and feeling like I mean something. And I don't want to hurt you. Gods... that's the last thing I want."

She reaches out cautiously, takes his hand. He draws a sharp breath, although his shoulders instinctively relax, feeling the familiar pulse of her heat against his skin.

"I love you too, Hec," she says quietly. "You're not the only one who never thought life could feel like this."

He lets the held-in breath out shakily and grips her hand like a lifeline in a storm. "I'm scared, Karlach," he admits in a whisper. "I don't know if I can do this alone."

"You won't be alone." She smiles slightly. "We've got a pretty good group going here, now. And you're way stronger than you think. I've seen it." She hesitates. "Proud of you, y'know."

He closes his eyes and swallows desperately against the lump in his throat. "Thank you," he says softly. A pause. "I'm proud of you too, you know," he adds after a little while. "For standing by what's important to you. I want you to know that, no matter what else happens."

Her fingers tighten around his fiercely. "And I won't laugh about it, not anymore," she adds with a slight nod. "Didn't think about how it sounded to you. I won't make that mistake again."

He nods, musters a slight smile as he looks up at her. "Thank you. That's all I ask."

She steps forward, wraps her arms around him tightly, and he sags forward into her, burying his face into her neck. It's a great irony, he reflects, that the same heat which is going to kill her makes him feel so warm and comfortable in her arms.

His eyes squeeze shut against her and he lets out a single gasped breath, almost a sob. But only the one. Then he has control again, and all he does is lean into her and hold on as if his grip might somehow prevent her from ever slipping away from him.

And though he will not say it aloud, inwardly he prays for some miracle, some way out of the darkness that sits in his future when she is gone. Because he truly does not know how he will bear it.

[cerastes]

Am I crazy or is Spuria actually not that bad as an op? LIke unless you're really unlucky, the stuns aren't that bad, especially if paired with the right sniper. Been using her with plat and andreanna in is3 and having a lot of fun

She's not a dumpster fire, no.

The main issue with Spuria is that she's a bit incongruent with her own kit, or, as I like to explain this kind of issue, "she was balanced for another game altogether".

Her S1 is hard to capitalize on and very circumstantial; this is likely on purpose, since Specialists are, for the most part, meant to be circumstantial (though there are exceptions, like Gladiia), and when you need what she offers at high velocity for 18-24 seconds, well, there it is. Is it lacking compared to a lot else you could put on slot for what she does? Yeah, easily. Is it horrible or unusable? Not really.

S2's malus is... Very unfortunate, is the thing. You have the right idea! Using slow, strong hitters is in fact The Optimal Use for it, as they are not harmed as terribly by the drawback and benefit greatly from the buffs when compared to faster firing Snipers. That said, 2-1.8 seconds of Stun on RNG is quite dire regardless, for what's not really a substantial buff, so you can end up losing DPS if you're unlucky, or get stunned at a really bad moment at a higher end stage and lose a unit to an enemy that could've been killed otherwise, stuff like that. Now, of course, this IS a rare, valuable ATK+ASPD buff you can give someone else, but when you start asking yourself "can I put anything in this slot that would accomplish the selfsame task of Killing Things Faster, better?", then the answer is "absolutely yes". However, if you're a newer player and don't have a filled-out roster, so no Warfarin, for example, then suddenly Spuria becomes a pretty enticing option, no?

Lastly, her Talent is very sub-DPS focused, which I think gets her flak because She's Not Aak, who has far more CC-centric effects.

Basically, I think Spuria is, strictly practically speaking, not good for an older player with a fuller roster, but can be a pretty worthwhile unit for a player with less options.

[ladymirdan]

Fuck.

My FLGS has gotten a ton of really old Dark Elf stuff for sale, and I could theoretically recreate my first lost army (sans Malus Darkblade).

But it is going to cost me a leg and an arm to do so. (about 2 months of my regularly allowed hobby budgeting)

Im being torn between feeling it isn't worth it and how rare these opportunities are to come across this kind of stuff.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Earth Island Journal:

KOCHKOR KALDARBAEV REMEMBERS the forest of his childhood. It’s dense, with thickets of tall grass and brambles that make walking in a straight line impossible. Trees come in all shapes and sizes: spindly youngsters, stately elders, tiny seedlings peeking up through the forest floor. They come in all varieties, too, from hawthorn and maple to fruit-bearing trees like apple, pistachio, and plum. And everywhere you look, there’s the walnut: wide, smooth trunks branching off into bushy green canopies, with clusters of round fruits waiting to be cracked open to get at the creamy nut inside.

Kaldarbaev was born and raised in the village of Arslanbob in the mountains of southern Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation home to the world’s largest natural-growth walnut forest. Today the forest covers some 50 square miles of a fertile valley of the Tian Shan Mountain range, which stretches from Uzbekistan in the west to China and Mongolia in the east.

His father spent 40 years working for the then-Soviet government as a forestry officer tasked with keeping the forest healthy and managing how people used it — which then, as now, mostly involved harvesting walnuts, the region’s main source of income and a key ingredient of the local culture and traditions.

For centuries, every fall, the residents of Arslanbob and other villages dotting these mountains have left their homes and camped out in the dense forest, spending weeks shaking down the ripe nuts from the trees and collecting them by hand. Usually, this is an all-hands-on-deck job for entire families, including children. During harvest season, the walnuts make their way from local markets in the nearby city of Jalal-Abad to Europe and Asia, mostly along trade routes that once comprised the Silk Road.

But by 2012, Kaldarbaev could walk through the forest understory with relative ease. The thick undergrowth was mostly gone, as were the smaller, more immature trees, says the 51-year-old who followed in his father’s footsteps and became a government forester. Only the tall trunks of mature walnuts remained standing, spaced oddly far apart.

A similar fate afflicts much of Kyrgyzstan’s forests, which make up only about 6.2 percent of the country’s land area but are rich in biodiversity. Between 2001 and 2022, the mountainous nation lost 2,470 hectares (6,100 acres) of forest cover, mainly to deforestation, overgrazing, and desertification. In recent years, climate change and development have added to the pressures facing these forests, putting rare species like Malus niedzwetzkyana, or Niedzwetzky’s apple, and Pyrus korshinskyi, or Kazak plum, and Arslanbob’s iconic walnuts at risk.

This is bad news, not only for the villagers who depend on these natural fruit forests, but for the rest of the world as well. Many of the widely- loved varieties of fruits and nuts that we enjoy today — including apples, almonds, pistachios, pomegranates, plums, apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, and, walnuts — originated from the wild species found in Arslanbob and other temperate montane forests of this region of Central Asia. At a time when domesticated strains of many of these trees are becoming increasingly susceptible to disease, these forests of crop wild relatives are a valuable genetic resource that could be critical for food security in the future.

[zkylearnstherope]

uh, A? How are you always calm around Malus, the literal thing that’s extremely violent, especially towards the rocket corps and also wants to kill your husband, and more importantly how do you manage to calm down this thing that’s basically the equivalent to an animal with rabies

Leashes.

Leashes and cages. Plural because you would need multiple.

Also, he looks like a tiny whining creature to me, that's why he doesn't bother me at all. But if he comes to my AU, then we're gonna have a problem.

---

The Void Walkers rarely intervene with Other Beings unless it trespasses their territory. You can decide what intervene means.

[miloscat]

[Review] Grabbed by the Ghoulies: Challenge 21 (XB)

Justice for Amber.

A couple of years ago I caught up on this Xbox Zero cult classic for the first time. In the Rare fan circles I’m part of it has an outsized and beloved reputation, and I have some appreciation for it despite finding the gameplay a bit clunky. Now it’s been picked in my retro game club, so I revisited it to complete the notorious challenge mode.

A quick refresher: GbtG is a twin-stick beat-em-up by the Banjo-Kazooie team. It has a very recognisably Kirkhopian score, a cheesy spook-tastic tone, and a charmingly crooked art style. You bash your way through all manner of beasties and monsters going room by room through a dilapidated haunted mansion, each new chamber presenting you with a unique challenge along with an assortment of makeshift weapons and powerups.

Aside from the main mode, there are a small selection of side challenges, more difficult room scenarios that rank you afterwards. Get gold on all 20 and you’ll gain access to challenge 21, which asks you to play through the entire game with some new modifiers (and most cutscenes removed). It’s more lenient than it sounds as you’re still allowed to die and your progress within the challenge is saved.

In 21, each room gives you ten health to complete it: pretty harsh except for the rare rooms which in the base game stick you with just 1. You also have no powerup soups at all; I did miss the chaos, the cheese strats, and the crutch that these soups represent, but on the other hand there’s no malus soups, and I was forced to engage more deeply with the combat engine, getting better at the fighting fundamentals in the process (though I still think they’re ultimately a bit jank).

The other modifier in challenge 21 is that the player character Cooper is swapped out for Amber, who mainly serves as damsel in distress in the story mode. She plays identically to Cooper and has her own vocalisations. This is a win—well, it’s something at least—and a glimpse at what could have been had the development plans to include her as an equal playable partner made it to release.

Having gone through this final wringer, I find myself with a new respect for Ghoulies. It’s positively oozing with trademark Rare charm and loaded with fun Easter eggs, mostly to BK but also to itself with concept art of unused monsters in portraits all over Ghoulhaven Hall. I did get stuck in certain scenes for a while but it was interesting to work out specific tactics, and I must acknowledge Rare Gamer’s guides and walkthrough video that helped me out of a few sticky spots. Oh and in case anyone wants to compare, I cleared the challenge in 6 hours and 5 minutes. Crunch my carrots!

[xtruss]

History: The Many Lives of Gaza - A Peek Into Palestinian Daily Life

— Mariam Amini | Monday January 22, 2024

If a picture is worth a thousand words, The Many Lives of Gaza exhibition could write several trilogies.

Displayed at the Bermondsey Project Space earlier this month, the exhibition told the tale of Palestine through a nostalgic Gazan lens.

Prior to the Nakba in 1948, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, the Gaza Strip was an area of fertile land and abundance, composed of vibrant fishing towns and villages.

Following this upheaval, some 750,000 Palestinians were displaced. Zionist militias killed at least 15,000 local residents, ethnically cleansing more than 500 towns. In Gaza alone, some 130,000 refugees arrived, having fled ransacked villages.

The Many Lives of Gaza captures this aftermath vividly, making use of multiple media forms.

A group of Palestinian children laughing and grinning

Archived photographs from the Palestinian Museum in the West Bank display the reality of refugee camps. Video interviews with survivors relay anecdotes of the past.

Pieces by Palestinian artists and infographics also dot the walls, letting visitors engage with key facts and figures.

“It’s this combination of very heartfelt photography but also hardcore facts - I think that’s a strength of the exhibition,” says Jordanian Filipina-American writer and editor Malu Halasa.

“It’s important to put Gaza into perspective, and to think about it differently. Looking at the news, you hear about what’s happening in terms of the war, but it’s rare that we’re hearing Gazan voices or seeing Gazan faces.”

According to Halasa, the key to understanding the real context lies in creative spaces. “The amplification of Palestinian lives, voices, experiences is very important. In culture and art, you learn more about people. These are platforms where people speak for themselves instead of having the intermediary of the news or an academic.”

For exhibition co-curator Dr Meg Peterson, this resonates. “There’s an educational element to it. “[We’re] trying to uncover the layers so people don’t just see images of conflict and destruction. It’s also seeing images of life and joy - that side of Gaza.”

“There’s a much deeper story behind the images. People want to know more about the people who are captured, but unfortunately we just don’t know where they are.”

A proud new Palestinian mother cradling her newborn

Through expression and emotion alone, Peterson hopes to connect to people’s humanity. Her main message is one of “solidarity and action”.

“There’s so much that you can do on a small scale to make a really big difference, and everyone should feel a responsibility to be a part of that change.”

This is a cause of special significance for co-curator Nadine Aranki, who is herself Palestinian. Having grown up in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the reality of life under occupation is especially close to home.

“It’s like we are undergoing slow mass murder. There are many justifications out there by the Israeli propaganda about why they are committing this genocide. In the West Bank, we have also seen a rise of Israeli soldiers killing people.”

Aranki seeks to dispel this dehumanisation and violence by drawing focus onto the subtle and everyday. “We try to tell the story of the daily life of Palestinians in Gaza. Visitors are really fascinated by this context. It’s giving them new information.”

As for her wishes for the future, Aranki believes in the power of art to make change.

“This exhibition is really important at this specific moment of time. It’s trying to break through and shift the narrative of what it means to be Palestinian.”

“A lot of the time, this is presented as a complicated question, but it’s not. It’s very simple. We want a ceasefire. We want our people to live.”

[llondonfog]

WATCHING A DDLC GAMEPLAY IS DOING THINGS™️ TO MY BRAIN

NOW I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT A TWST/DDLC AU WITH SILVER AS SAYORI OH MY GOD 😭😭😭 QUICK TELL ME SOMETHING SO I DON’T WRITE IT AND EMBARASS MY FUTURE SELF

(some rare Wholesome™️ content below)

In lieu of having an allowance to frequent the closest town market, baby Silver would gift bouquets of carefully pressed and dried flowers to Malleus on his birthday, complete with a very thoughtfully written card to 'Malus-sama' and commemorative artwork of a dragon-ish creature smiling down at a smaller figure

Those flowers now reside in the topmost drawer of Malleus' desk in the castle, enchanted to never crumble away, and he stumbles across the cards by accident when he had been looking for an entirely different (and rather mind-numbingly boring) court invitation. Pressing his fingertips gently to the faded inked scribbles of a child trying their best at sounding out his name and tracing over the genuine smile depicted on his dragon-y face, he can't help but find himself smiling faintly in return; how their long, winding lives have been enriched by the mere bright and fleeting presence of this innocent human child.

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs The Thorm Family

In the tollhouse

Gerringothe Thorm: PAY TOLL!

Alisaie: I think you have enough gold, y'know.

Gerringothe Thorm: I DO NOT KEEP. I PAY BACK.

Alisaie: Pay back who? Everyone's dead.

Gerringothe Thorm: OH. *explodes*

Wyll; Shadowheart; Gale: ........................

Alisaie: ......... *grins* *cracks knuckles* Well. Okay then.

Wyll: How is she not the folk hero? How is me being the folk hero making any kind of sense right now?!?

Gale: I have no idea, but that grin scares me.

Shadowheart: Me too, a little ... just in all the best ways.

Gale: I know what you mean, I suppose, but... You share that sentiment with Lae'zel. She'd be soaking her smalls over this.

In the Waning Moon

Thisobald Thorm: TELL STORIES. THEN DRINK. THEN I ANSWER.

Alisaie: Not sure I really need any information from you, but stories I can do. *pulls lute*

Wyll: Ooh! I haven't seen her do this since she started putting all her bardic power to the sword!

Alisaie: *raises eyebrow*

Wyll: And the bow. Can't forget the bow.

Alisaie: Better. Cool. Okay. (starts playing; to the tune of Take a Hint) Why'm I always fighting all the forces of the night / I'm no paladin or cleric; I can't say it's for the light / But I can't help my conscience; I'll always do what's right / Even if it always bites me in the / Ask me my alignment and I'll say Chaotic Good / I'll always do the noble thing, but rarely as I should / So when I see the shit you did to your neighbourhood / That always puts me in a fighting mood; Oh! / Take your hands off that bat / Or I'll kick you in the twat / I've fought way worse than you (Yep!) / So take a hit; take a hit / Listen up and take a drink / You disgusting missing link / You deserve what happens next / So take a hit; take a hit!

Thisobald Thorm: *chugs; explodes*

Alisaie: ......I'm going to be cleaning Thorm out of my hair for a week.

Gale: Just one of the many reasons why Prestidigitation is the most necessary spell in any magic-user's arsenal.

In the House of Healing

Malus Thorm: Allow us to demonstrate Shar's teachings on you!

Alisaie: We're honestly not worthy at this point, though Shadowheart's working on it. Besides, what's the point of a demonstration we wouldn't be able to see?

Malus Thorm: ...Hmm. Good point. Girls?

Nurses: *stab each other up*

Malus Thorm: *stabs himself up*

Wyll; Gale; Shadowheart: ...........................

Alisaie: ...What?

Gale: I ... understood making the tollkeeper ... thing overload. And I understood conning that barkeep ... thing into drinking past capacity. But ... you ... you just literally talked these people into a murder-suicide!

Alisaie: Yeah, and? I mean, the worst that was going to happen was them not being crazy enough to do that shit and trying to stab us up harder. Seemed worth the risk, right?

Gale: ...Again, I fear you.

A shortish while later, back at camp

Astarion: Goodness. They've all come back with something of a thousand-yard stare. What have you been up to?

Alisaie: Talking enemies into offing themselves, mostly.

Astarion: ...You have all this power at your disposal and you won't even use it for your own gain. It's depressing.

Alisaie: Hey, sometimes I do. Usually to get paid more or, like, not having to waste my energy in a fight with a shadow-tainted asshole.

Astarion: Hrm. You make a very valid point.

Alisaie: Oh, hey, want to come along on this next bit? I figure you and Lae'zel for this one.

Astarion: ...Why, exactly?

Alisaie: Because I'm probably going to end up doing something really shitty to a shadar-kai - who is in and of himself a shitlord anyway so he basically deserves it, but Gale and Wyll have seen enough bullshit. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to feed on something that wasn't shadow-tainted? ...Probably, anyway?

Astarion: ...I begin to see how you managed to talk people into suicide. I'm definitely in. But ... not leaving your beloved behind?

Alisaie: Shadowheart's been looking at me like I'm the most divine snack in existence since the thing in the House of Healing. Something about "using Shar's teachings as a weapon" and stuck between 'proud' and 'massively turned on'. I figure she's going to be fine with bitching out a ghost for turning friends over to Dark Justiciars over drunken tavern bitching.

Astarion: ...Why is it that you know people this well but you're only manipulative in the cause of ... ugh, righteousness?

Alisaie: Because my soul lives in the barony of Chaotic Good and it's easier to get people to do what I want when I'm nice. Let's go.

[herbulum]

Malus domestica: Kansas, Deborah Griscom Passmore

U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705