#shadowheart x florwyn

[eldritchelfwriter]

Part 1 of the finale to Shadowheart Begins now out ...

“Shadowheart,” a voice whispers.

Shadowheart opens eyes heavy with sleep and squints at Florwyn kneeling over her in the darkness. She can barely make her out.

“Sorry to wake you,” Florwyn whispers. “I didn’t want you to wake up and find me gone and worry.”

“Wait - what? Where are you going?” Shadowheart asks at once, still trying to work out what is going on in her tiredness.

“Storm coming.”

“Oh,” Shadowheart says, noting the sound of light rain on their tent roof – and the barely contained excitement in Florwyn’s voice. Of course Florwyn must go – otherwise lightning will fall onto the camp. “I’ll come with you – you can’t go alone.”

“I won’t be alone,” Florwyn assures her. “I need Jaheira’s spell, and Karlach said she’d kill me if she didn’t get to come next time there was a storm, even if I had to wake her.”

“That would make Karlach my number one enemy, right underneath ‘elder brain’,” Shadowheart mutters tiredly, and Florwyn laughs softly.

“Sleep, my love,” Florwyn whispers, mussing Shadowheart’s hair and kissing her gently on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

“’K,” Shadowheart says, eyelids already drooping again.

She wakes again an hour or so later, and Florwyn has still not returned. She has a vague memory of having been woken again by thunder and drifting back off; she can still hear the patter of on the tent roof.

Having gotten used to sharing a tent now, she feels strangely bereft to wake up without Florwyn next to her. She looks at the empty space beside her where her sorcerer should be and sighs, missing her already ...

READ MORE:

[callmelyrus]

”’I think I’m ready to be held now, if it’s still on offer,’ Florwyn says faintly.

’Of course,’ Shadowheart murmurs, pulling Florwyn into her arms, as she has been aching to do the entire time.”

I cannot stop re-reading Shadowheart Begins by the amazing @eldritchelfwriter ❤️ Here’s a little something something I cooked up of these lovely ladies.

[eldritchelfwriter]

^Florwyn to Shadowheart.

Shadowheart: I'm right here, you know.

my beautiful wife, severe thunderstorm warning, is texting me 😌😚😍😍

[eldritchelfwriter]

when did you know Florwyn was the author of the D'vanya Mettle books and Shadowheart was the biggest fan? was that planned from the beginning or did you decide later on during Shadowheart Begins? how did you come up with D'vanya's name and each of the book titles? and how did you manage to keep the secret till the last chapter???

Don't read the ask or answer if you haven't finished Shadowheart Begins. MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Oh Anonymous, I knew from the start. 😎

Shadowheart has a big pile of books in her tent area and reading is one of her idle animations - I'm one of those people who love looking at other people's book shelves and was thus annoyed that I couldn’t read the titles while simultaneously amused to think she was perhaps reading mystery novels.

Knowing how heavy some of the themes in the fic would be, having a little thread going through that could be used for comic relief as well as (hopefully) feeling like a fun pay off at the end seemed like a cool idea to try. The idea of Shadowheart as an unhinged fan also just absolutely sent me!

When it came to the chapter where D’vanya Mettle first made an appearance, I thought to myself "now you'd better think of something good for her name, since this'll be haunting the whole fic." Well, I couldn't think of anything so I put the first thing in my head down so I could keep writing and come back to it later with a better idea. And then when I did come back to it, my mind went blank and I just went "well, it'll have to do!" And that's how D’vanya Mettle got her name. You don't know how many times I've told myself "I can't believe you stuck yourself with that."

As to the book titles - oh I was trolling you all when I created those, knowing what I knew. No special thought into the titles, I just hoped it would be something that would amuse readers during the story and then give you all a bit of a laugh at the end when you realised how hard I'd been trolling. 🤪

Keeping the secret was hard!!!!! As were all the SB secrets, and that particular one I had to keep for so very long til the literal end. One reader did work it out before the end (actually well before the end) which was kind of a relief and a worry - good to know that the clues "worked" if you looked for them, but at the same time I was stressed everyone would figure it out before the end and ruin the surprise!!

Thanks for this fun ask, Anonymous!

[eldritchelfwriter]

Chapter 19 of Shadowheart Begins now out

Sleep does not come easy that night. Shadowheart lays awake for a long time, thinking of her parents, what she will say to them when they meet, what condition they will be in … wondering if they will even want to see her.

She walks the animals in the morning, just to keep up a small semblance of normality before her life changes, yet again.

Then she dons her armour and gloves, and picks up the moonlight glaive, turning it over in her hands. It will be Selune’s divine power that she will wield in the heart of the Sharrans cloister today, along with Selune’s own weapon. It feels strange, but … right, somehow.

“Shadowheart!” a voice calls, and Shadowheart is surprised to see Isobel rushing toward her, and suddenly enveloping Shadowheart in a hug. “Good luck,” Isobel whispers. “I’ll be thinking of you, and if your parents need any help when they return with you, I’ll be right here and waiting.”

“Thank you, Isobel,” Shadowheart says, touched by her thoughtfulness. And then Florwyn is at her side too, looking slightly unprepared when Isobel, whom Florwyn doesn’t know very well, gives her a brief hug and a whispered “good luck” too.

“Isobel …” Shadowheart says quickly to stop the cleric before she dashes off again – and before she loses her own courage. “Could you … say something, before we go?”

“Like what?” Isobel says, frowning.

“Just something to …” Shadowheart clears her throat. “… your goddess.”

Isobel blinks, and Florwyn looks at her sideways, but neither make comment.

Isobel touches her arm while Shadowheart’s face burns, and says softly: “Let the moon be your light, and your glaive be a shining symbol of Our Lady in the dark. Moonmaiden, bring Shadowheart and her parents home, the gods know they deserve it. May your light guide Shadowheart and her friends and bring them all safely back.”

“Thank you,” Shadowheart breathes, when the prayer ends.

“The Moonmaiden guide your steps, dear friend,” Isobel whispers, leaving them to prepare for their departure.

READ MORE:

[eldritchelfwriter]

The final chapter of Shadowheart Begins, now out.

They have failed.

The elder brain – no, nether brain, was never going to be able to be dominated all along. They had thought collecting the nether stones would bring about their freedom, not knowing that the brain was using them for its own.

Shadowheart stands next to Florwyn in the astral plane, a place as surreal as their situation, contemplating the futility of it all. All their little victories, all the pain and sacrifice they have made as they tried to stay one step ahead of transformation or death – what was the point of it all?

They are all tired. Their shoulders are slumped, their spirits low. The Moonmaiden’s magic may have restored their health and their magic, but they have still already fought two battles already: against Orin the Red, and then against the mutated intellectual devourers that haunted the nether brain’s underground lair.

And now they have the truth. Instead of setting them free, the truth has burdened them with a world weariness that bites deep into their very souls. The Emperor, no more than a pawn for the brain’s plan himself, has given them a brief reprieve to make a new plan – if such a thing is even possible.

Is there any hope, at all? Or are they only minutes, moments away from losing themselves and being enthralled by the brain as it has been trying to do since that first nautiloid?

“Shadowheart?” Florwyn whispers, squeezing her hand and startling Shadowheart out of these thoughts. Florwyn looks as downcast and drawn as Shadowheart feels, her eyes creased with worry – Shadowheart can’t imagine how she is even finding the energy to speak. “We’ll find a way.”

Shadowheart sighs heavily, for there is no way ahead, or at least not one that she can see. She feels as though the truth has aged her a hundred years, and yet, in spite of the future they had planned together having vanished, somehow Florwyn is still trying to offer her words of comfort.

Shadowheart squeezes Florwyn’s hand back and gives her a ghost of a smile. At least whatever comes next, they won’t have to go through it alone.

READ MORE:

[eldritchelfwriter]

Happy to be asked things about Florwyn, though, there may be some things I have reasons not to answer yet. :)

30 Questions for Your Tav! [ Ask Meme ]

[ Send in a number for a question to be answered! What is your Tav like? Who are they as a person? ]

Your Tav as a Companion

1. What would your Tav’s greetings be (at different levels of approval)? 2. Describe their tent setup! What’s on the outside? The inside? 3. What would their character quest be titled? Why? 4. What would your Tav’s romance scenes look like? How many would they have? 5. Describe their idle animations! 6. How would the player go about meeting them in Act 1? What is their introduction? 7. Describe their arc. How would a player help resolve it? What choices can be made? Can your Tav be turned down a dark path, or pulled to a lighter one? 8. After Act 3, what does their life look like? What are they talking about at the reunion party?

Back to Basics

9. What’s the significance behind your Tav’s name? 10. Does your Tav have a last name? Is there a meaning behind it? 11. What is your Tav’s go-to comfort food? 12. Does your Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why? 13. What is your Tav’s main color palette? Why do they choose those colors? 14. Where are they from? What was home like? 15. Is your Tav more likely to fight/flight/freeze/fawn? 16. What do they do for fun, when not adventuring? What are their hobbies? 17. Do they have any enemies outside of the main plot? Any friends? 18. Where/with whom do they feel safest? 19. What is their MBTI Type?

Deep Dives

20. What is their relationship to touch? Do they shy away from it? Do they need it to feel present? 21. Describe a defining moment from their past, which makes them who they are today! 22. How is your Tav’s relationship with their family? Their parents? 23. How does your Tav act in situations of stress? In moments of peace? 24. What does your Tav consider to be their own biggest character flaw? 25. What is something they would die on a hill over? 26. Give us one of your Tav’s secrets! 27. What is the worst thing they’ve ever done/said to someone they love? 28. Describe a smell that reminds your Tav of childhood. 29. What fears keep them up at night? 30. What does your Tav want more than anything?

[eldritchelfwriter]

OMG OMG OMG OMG an anonymous fan has GIFTED this picture of FLORWYN⚡️and excuse me I have a bit more bouncing off the ceiling to do!!!!

IT'S SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!!! ⚡️

[eldritchelfwriter]

There's been a thought plaguing my mind for a while. I'm intrigued by Florwyn's preference of wind. Emmeline asks her and she does share, but the reader doesn't know what is being said! If you have an answer, I'd love to know! Why nor-easterly?

Ooh what an interesting question!

This is partly answered in chapter 13, when Shadowheart is trying to work out a gift for Florwyn:

“She’s a painter in her spare time, and I assume she would have everything she needs for that. She loves reading and books, enjoys tea and whisky – sometimes together, and she loves,” and here Shadowheart rolls her eyes. “The smell and taste of a nor-easterly wind – not a scent, I believe, that can be found in a shop.”

I don't know if there is necessarily an answer beyond that, I just thought it was fun for Florwyn to have a favourite wind, and nice to end with the idea of 'there's a good wind blowing.'

What that particular part in the ending meant to me, though, was not necessarily about what Florwyn would have been saying, but just the fact that Florwyn, who has been so tight-lipped about her sorcery for much of the entire story, is here just happily opening up to Emmeline about something few other than herself could really understand but sharing her love for it anyway, knowing she isn't going to be shut down or looked at strangely. The fact that she is able to tell Emmeline without hesitation says something about both where their relationship has got to, and where Florwyn is at in her sorcery these days.

I believe when I initially came up with the idea of Florwyn having a favourite wind, I did google a bit and found out that there is a big storm called a nor-easter in some parts of the world (not mine) but mostly, I just thought it rolled off the tongue and sounded a bit more poetic than all the other options. :D

[eldritchelfwriter]

Chapter 22 of Shadowheart Begins now out - one chapter to go folks!

Shadowheart walks down a cobbled street, and up a flight of stairs. And she knows that her guess was right when she hears the sound of crying coming from inside Florwyn’s apartment before she has even reached the top of the stairs.

She removes the key from the flower pot and lets herself in, following the sound of crying into Florwyn’s bedroom, where a white-haired figure with a face puffy and red from crying lies on the bed with her eyes closed, face contorted in pain, sobbing with a grief so raw that it cuts Shadowheart to the bone.

The sight of Florwyn in such distress is worse than everything else that has happened this day.

She leans over the bed and says, softly: “Florwyn? I’m here, love,” and lightly strokes Florwyn’s face. It is damp with tears.

Florwyn gasps and opens her eyes. The tears abruptly stop as her eyes widen in shock. “Dr-dreaming. I’m dr-dreaming,” she says, closing her eyes and turning away.

“Not dreaming,” Shadowheart says, climbing onto the bed beside her, and watching Florwyn, in her confusion and shock, following Shadowheart’s every movement. She takes Florwyn’s limp hands in hers, and presses them against Shadowheart’s own heart.

Florwyn looks at where her hands are feeling the proof that Shadowheart’s heart still beats yet, and looks back up at her. “Real?” she whispers in astonishment.

Shadowheart uses one hand to keep Florwyn’s to her heart, and uses the other to brush the hair out of Florwyn’s precious, tear-streaked face.

“I’m real, love,” she says. “I’m right here, and we’re together.”

The tears begin to flow again and Florwyn, bottom lip trembling, says, “I th-thought you were d-dead. I th-thought I k-killed you.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Shadowheart says firmly. “It was that horrible wizard, not you.”

Florwyn closes her eyes tightly and sobs with relief. “I’ll never do sorcery again,” she says hysterically. “I-I’m too d-dangerous to – ”

READ MORE:

[eldritchelfwriter]

Chapter 21 of Shadowheart Begins now out!

Only two chapters to go after this one folks. The end is nigh.

Nothing happens the same way twice.

* * * *

EXTRACT:

In those early days after her parents’ rescue, Shadowheart spends most of her spare time with them.

She knows her last name now. She knows where they lived, that her favourite toy was Elise, a little stuffed fox with button eyes sewn on by her mother. She knows that she cried whenever she found dead birds or mice, and brought them home for funerals in the garden.  

And she also has had the truth of what she did under Shar’s influence, on condition that they do not speak of it again.  

She cannot understand how they could love and forgive her so freely for what was done, but she accepts it because she wants this – she wants them – too much to let anything take it away – even the horrors she committed while brainwashed by Shar.  

It has not sunk in yet, that they are here to stay. There is a constant buzz of anxiety in the back of her mind when she is out during the day, even though she knows Isobel is on hand most of the time if they need help. When she returns, she rushes to her parents, unable to relax until she is assured that it is all real and they are really here with her. She could not bear to lose them again, now that she has them. 

“We’re not going anywhere, my dear,” her mother murmurs into ear on one such evening as she hugs her tight. She had started to panic when she couldn’t find them in camp – only to discover them cleaning up the abandoned shrine to Selune. “Not for as long as you’re happy for us to be around.” 

“I’ll always want you around, mum,” Shadowheart tells her in a constricted voice, a pang in her heart and tears in her eyes for the time they have missed that they will never get back. The years have weighed so much more on her mother than her father. 

Sometimes in those first days she stays with them all night until dawn, unable to leave them. They hold her between them while they sleep, and she wakes in their embrace with the dim impression of her child self crawling into their bed at night to ward off monsters.  

The nightmare is finally over, but the child within that she knows as Jenevelle still needs to be reassured that daylight has come. 

READ MORE:

[eldritchelfwriter]

Why Jaheira got more unplanned screen time in SB

Hi hello! I have been sick for I don't know 8 days? Real, real sick. My brain is not quite back while I'm typing this. I was struggling to think of something to write as my 'there's no chapter this week' bonus, and this is the only thing I could think of. Hopefully it's interesting? And makes sense? My head is still fuzzy.

***

To be honest I had not anticipated having anywhere near as much Florwyn in the fic as there has ended up being - that's down to you guys who have been so supportive of her as a character. As I've mentioned a few times before, I'd assumed you were reading a Shadowheart/Tav fic for Shadowheart and wouldn't be that interested in my OC. So your response to Florwyn and her story had a direct impact on the fic and gave me the confidence to go much deeper with her than I'd ever intended.

I was writing bits of future chapters all the time, and it wasn't until I was writing Chapter 13 - Promises, which was roughly around the same time I was finishing up the Reaching For You spin off and I think also making dialogue notes for the House of Grief sequence at the same time (I like to do be doing a few things at once OK) :) that I was struck by the realisation that "oh shit, Shadowheart is going to get parents back, and Florwyn is not."

I'd set Florwyn up as not just an orphan but a really messed over one in terms of her parental figures, plus having accidentally killed her parents, and not considered the consequences for the future and what it might mean for them as individuals and as a couple when Emmeline and Arnell came onto the scene.

Much as I liked the idea of Emmeline and Arnell becoming those kind of people for her as much as for Shadowheart (and also, I'm sure they would be like that to her eventually), I also liked the idea of Florwyn having someone of her own - which fits with the 'found family' theme in the fic, and because I knew House of Grief would be right near the end, I also thought it wouldn't give enough time for it to feel like a genuine connection had been established between her and Shadowheart's parents (especially with cough what I knew was going to happen at a certain shop cough).

The 'Jaheira as a sort of mother figure' had been a late stage edit to Reaching For You (the Dark Justiciar spin off) - she and the Harpers had definitely been in that fic all along, but I hadn't established their relationship in that way. As soon as I did, the fic suddenly seemed to work where it just hadn't been up until then, and I wondered why I hadn't seen the obvious all along.

Originally Chapter 13 - Promises (where Shadowheart asks advice for a gift) had been Shadowheart asking Isobel for advice, but it wasn't working - partly because it was too soon for Shadowheart to be talking to her or Aylin much, especially about something so personal It felt a bit forced to me, and I liked the Khalid/Florwyn shy partners connection, and having Jaheira being the wise oldie dispensing advice instead. I still hadn't yet made the deeper connection in Reaching For You though, but the stage had been set for Muggins here to work out a solution to that empty part of Florwyn in SB.

Unfortunately there is no "oh actually your parents weren't dead they were kidnapped by an evil goddess" for Florwyn and I think it'd feel a bit cheap if there was. But hopefully it feels like she's been able to build a genuine relationship with an older woman who's been a friend and mentor.

[eldritchelfwriter]

It's ... finished?! Oh my GOD. The last chappy of Shadowheart Begins is finished!!!!!

Barring some final little edits ... we're on schedule for the usual release time this weekend.

It's clocking in at about 10,700 words folks, the longest chapter yet and I anticipate you may need tissues.

I am feeling so many feels. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[eldritchelfwriter]

Does this sound Florwyn-esque to you? Been mucking around on the piano.

[eldritchelfwriter]

In preparation for the final chapter of Shadowheart Begins, I've ordered some storm whisky glasses (to remember Florwyn my whisky-drinking storm sorcerer forever) so I can have a toast by myself when it's done with Islay Storm Whisky KNOWING I'm going to be super emotional.

You don't know unless you ask - the whisky glass company have given me the code FINALCHAPTER15 for anyone else who wants some sick crystal glasses. And it's from Tsukiglass. What does Tsuki mean in Japanese? MOON. 😭 So my gal Shadowheart is in there too.

Tsukiglass store

I'm not exactly sure but I think there are 3 chapters to go. 😭😭😭

(As far as I'm aware it's just a discount code and not an affiliate link).

[eldritchelfwriter]

A few Shadowheart Begins story-related screenshots, for fun

So the next chapter, I can't remember what number I'm even up to, is still cooking away. Here's some screenshots, just for fun, from my Florwyn playthrough that I actually still haven't quite finished (interrupted it with a completed durge playthrough).

Florwyn started off as me just being ridiculously excited to try out the storm sorcerer class, and whipping up an elvish-sounding name in literally two seconds. (Confirm, sorcerer is the most fun I have had so far, having played gloomstalker ranger, paladin, monk and cleric on different runs).

To start with, I made her an extra pale goth wearing black clothing once I could get dark dyes, and very black and heavy eye make up that I gradually toned down over the game as a sign of her 'development.' She didn't have a backstory, and I had no idea she'd end up lending her name and a few other attributes such as her pale grey eyes to a story.

Just don't take her facial features, hair and things to heart as game Florwyn and story Florwyn are not really the same.

Florwyn approaching Jaheira to train her

'Lessons' with Jaheira

Deciding whether to face her fear

Just thinking about how much wizards suck

Communication is key

Kissing is also very key