#staying hidden away in one of the run down rooms along the battlements

[ryuichifoxe]

Who turns their backup Dragon Age ttrpg character into a romanceable inquisition companion? Who does that? Certainly not me, no. Anyway, this is my red templar boy, Casimir. I have a four hour drive tomorrow, so I might write up some of his backstory and how you recruit him during the trip. That said, he manages to keep his condition under wraps (mask, hood, and plenty of armor) until the destruction of Haven, where he demonstrates his red templar abilities to protect the inquisitor during the trebuchet fight. Kaz’ first interaction at Skyhold would be the reveal of his face and how he ended up the way he did.

[tact-and-impulse]

Shinkane Week 2021 Day 5

For the “arranged marriage” prompt, I went for the Sengoku era.

In Place

Akane hoped that at the very least, he would be kind.

She set her mirror down, unable to look at her reflection any longer. The heavy embroidered robes, the cosmetics on her face, her hair hidden away under white silk. The guilt in her eyes.

Yuki had been the charming one, the one who was supposed to marry a general aligned with their closest neighbor. She had cheerfully shown her wedding garments to Akane during her last visit, that she had only met her betrothed once but liked him immensely and he had been pleased with her in turn. It seemed a fitting fate for Yuki, who wanted nothing more than to have a happy marriage.

Then, Sasayama Mitsuru had died on the battlefield.

The news had been delivered, along with the fact that the engagement would now be with a different general instead. Yuki had fainted and then grew feverish. It was believed that she had been weakened by the sudden upheaval of events, it was too much for her frail spirit to bear. But whatever the truth was, it would forever remain a mystery. Her dear cousin was gone too quickly, in the span of a night that left Akane numb and paralyzed.

At the funeral, she learned that the wedding would be occurring anyway. With her, in place of Yuki. She barely registered anything after that. The sewing alterations, the packing of her belongings, the trousseau moved to her room, that would only remain so for another two weeks.

Most of the ceremony passed in a blur. She kept her eyes downcast, sensing that her new husband was taller than she was and catching the aroma of kizami when he moved. He must have smoked the shredded tobacco, and she racked her mind for what else she knew about him. He was a little younger than Sasayama had been, but he had already cultivated a favorable reputation. Had he ever met with Yuki?

She glanced up at him, and though she didn’t recognize his handsome features, she couldn’t complain. His expression was stoic, serious. Then, his gaze slid to her, and she immediately turned back to the proceedings. She was much more aware of her surroundings, than she had been since Yuki’s death.

She actually tasted her food at the celebratory dinner, though her appetite hadn’t fully returned yet. Her husband wasn’t faring any better, and in her periphery, he was frowning. As the guests descended into merrymaking and she sipped her sake, he spoke for the first time.

“Do you want to leave?”

Oh. Well, there was that part to a wedding, and she hurriedly downed the rest of her drink. Swallowing the burn, she agreed. “Y-yes.”

His hand was larger than hers, callused and strong, but he touched her gently and she appreciated that. Her face flamed at the cheering and his grip tightened. The hallway was quieter, the party’s sounds muffled, and she felt like she could breathe.

“I hope everyone will behave.” She said aloud, as he presumably led the way to the chamber. Their chamber.

“They’re only pleased about the alliance. It would have been the same, whether it was us or your cousin and my friend. We’re a couple of shogi pieces, that’s all.” His voice was dark with resentment, but it wasn’t bad to listen to.

“I’m sorry about your friend. General Sasayama was kind enough, from what I remember. He and Yuki could have been happy together. Not that it matters now…” The grief opened up again, the cloudiness returning.

“No, it doesn’t. He was too reckless, he got himself killed because he wasn’t satisfied, and his death took your cousin with him.” Outwardly, he sounded angry, and he slammed the door a little too hard. Inside the room, a lantern illuminated the sparse interior. One futon, with two pillows. He pulled her inside, before taking hold of the sliding door again. She wasn’t sure where to look, what to do. Of course, the basic instructions had been provided, but she was too nervous to start anything. She flinched as his sleeve brushed hers, and he must have noticed.

He walked around her, taking one of the pillows and tucking it under his arm. “Are you tired?”

“A little. It’s been a long day.” She let out a shaky laugh.

“Then, get some rest.” He blew out the lantern, the room plunging into darkness. She clutched her embroidered outer kimono, trying to still her trembling fingers. But he never approached, his footsteps drifting away. “That’s your side. This is mine.” A pause. “Good night.”

“…Good night?”

The silence crept up, and when she realized nothing would happen tonight, she smiled.

***

They still hadn’t consummated the marriage, when she traveled with him. He explained that until winter, they would be residing with his lord’s family and she would be assisting the lady, while he was on campaign.

“Do you know how to use a naginata?”

“I have some training.”

“Rely on it. We get attacked on a regular basis.”

“Eh?” She hadn’t heard of that before. “What about the castle’s defenses?”

“They’re adequate, but you should be prepared, in case there’s a spy. Don’t trust anyone easily.”

“Not even you?”

“If I act dishonorably, you shouldn’t hesitate.”

“I don’t think you will.”

His gaze might have softened, but he never responded.

Within the castle town, she was introduced to a variety of people. The lord, who seemed rather easygoing, and his demure, proper wife accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting. The metsuke, Ginoza. The seasoned general, Masaoka, and the recently promoted Kagari. There was even a warrior woman, Kunizuka. They all seemed pleasant, addressing her as the wife of General Kougami. It was strange at first, but she did her best to be just as kind.

Meanwhile, she and her husband slept apart from each other, as much as they could with one bed. He hadn’t made a move yet. She considered that he had a mistress, but from what Kagari told her, he only trained in his spare time. And although it was commonplace, she didn’t like the idea that there was another woman. He always came back to her anyway.

He had seen the books she brought with her and skimmed through each one. He genuinely seemed interested in her tastes and didn’t belittle her opinions. His questions were direct, calculating, and purposeful. He shared his books too, marked with his notes. Her husband had neat handwriting, she thought. In the evenings, he smoked his pipe as he read his own papers, and she found the sight comforting.

Not long after her arrival, an enemy clan drew too close. The entire household mobilized, and she saw him off. Along with his armor, he had a mask to resemble a wolf’s open mouth, but she didn’t feel any terror. It was only her husband, who was resolute and intelligent. She had faith in him.

“Be careful. I hope you’ll win.”

“Ah.” His hand lifted and for a moment, she thought he was going to touch her face. Instead, he ruffled her hair. “I’ll return soon.”

She watched him leave, feeling oddly empty.

It was a harder fight than expected, and the news came that they had been breached. The lady was newly pregnant, and after ensuring her safety, Akane took up her naginata and headed for the battlements. She could barely see past the drizzling rain, and the clamor was deafening. An arrow whizzed past her hair, and she felt pain and a warm trickle past her temple. But she kept going, searching for any unfamiliar faces.

At one corner, there were two figures, one readying to finish off his prone opponent. It was hard to discern who they were, but the man who was down seemed to have a mask. In the dim torchlight, she spotted the painted fangs on porcelain. She lunged forward and drove her naginata into the stranger, who tumbled over the wall.

“Akane!” Her husband was surprised to see her, and he struggled to rise. With her aid, he was able to stand. He’d suffered a few minor wounds, but he was still speaking and breathing. “You’re here.”

“Yes, I couldn’t stand by and wait.”

He blinked, the rain in his eyes. “Where’s the lady?”

“She’s in hiding. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“So are you.” He gripped her shoulder, and he gave a strained smile. “Stay safe!” Before she could reply, he was running off. She sincerely prayed he wouldn’t die, and she lifted her spear with renewed determination.

By dawn, the enemy had been subjugated. She had returned to their room, examining her head wound. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped and it wasn’t very deep. She had finished bandaging it again, when the door opened.

“Shinya-san!” She rushed to him. He looked tired, but the dried blood had been cleaned off, and strips of white cloth covered his chest. She pulled him to the futon, urging him to sit and rest. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

“No.” He seemed distracted, not quite meeting her eyes.

“If you need to sleep, I’ll leave you alone.” She was about to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. He stared at his own grasp, his thumb slowly bending. She ignored the heat overcoming her, lowering her voice. “Please, tell me what you need. I’m your wife, I want to help you.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t regret saying that.” And he kissed her, with unrestrained ferocity. She was too stunned to react, and when he parted from her, his eyes were completely dark. “Did you not like it?”

“I don’t know. One more time?”

He leaned towards her again, and she tried to meet him. Gentler than before, but his fingers twining through hers demonstrated that the passion hadn’t subsided. Breaking for air, he asked. “So? Should we stop?”

“No. Never.” And she initiated, claiming his mouth. He pulled her down and for a while, there was no need for words.

Neither of them were intended to be in this marriage at first, but they were now and the life that stretched ahead wasn’t terrible at all.

[fakexface]

Season 8

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━   𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓯 𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓻𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  

•Upon arrival in the North, Rhaegar, Daenerys, Jon, and their combined forces march through Winter Town on their way to Winterfell. The townspeople cast the Targaryens many suspicious looks, and Jon reminds them that Northerners have a long-established distrust of outsiders. Rhaegar gives a tight smile and replies that he deserves these looks- the blame they give him. He was the one who took Lady Lyanna from them, after all. Immediately following this exchange, Vhagon, Meraxal and Rhaenyx fly overhead, startling the townspeople and causing Daenerys to smile proudly. Rhaegar lets out a soft laugh as he watches the trio fly overhead.

•In Winterfell's courtyard, Jon introduces Daenerys and Rhaegar to Sansa; the two women exchange a civil but tense greeting while Rhaegar drops into a low bow, surprising everyone present, and states that Lady Sansa favors her mother, Catelyn.

•Later, Rhaegar is seated at the high table in the castle's great hall along with Jon, Daenerys, and Sansa. Tyrion attempts to calm the slightly hostile Northern lords by telling them that the largest army ever seen has been assembled, but Sansa asks how she is supposed to feed such a force along with three dragons. When she asks what dragons even eat, Daenerys replies, "Whatever they want." Rhaegar cuts in, giving his sister a harsh look, before replying that the dragons will hunt outside of Winterfell; they are capable of feeding themselves. One of the Northern lords makes a passing comment of how Targaryens know treason better than anyone else; Rhaegar does not reply.

•While inspecting the preparations for the coming battle, Daenerys remarks to Jon upon Sansa's apparent dislike for her. While Jon assures her that Sansa wasn't overly fond of him when they were growing up, Daenerys rebuffs him by saying that they don't need to like each other, but she will be respected as hand to the King. Several Dothraki approach the pair and mention that the dragons haven't been eating as much as they normally do.

•Rhaegar can be seen standing before Rhaenyx, worry evident. He asks for Daenerys and Jon to take them out, away from Winterfell- the dragons don’t like the cold, and flying would help warm them up. When Daenerys asks if Rhaegar will join them, he shakes his head and states that there are matters that he needs to attend to.

•Daenerys mounts Vhagon, planning to take him for a ride, and suggests that Jon mount Meraxal. After much trepidation, Jon does so, and the dragons take the pair on a wild ride over the snow-covered landscape, Daenerys being somewhat pleased at Jon's almost instant connection with the dragon. Eventually, they land near a waterfall in an area where Jon used to hunt as a youth. Away from all concerns about the coming battle, Daenerys and Jon share a brief moment of intimacy. Rhaenyx can be seen continuing to fly farther south before circling around, almost as if he were playing the role of scout.

•Rhaegar finds his way into the catacombs of Winterfell, and he takes his time, walking past the tombs slowly. He stops before Lyanna’s, and tears can be seen falling from his eyes. He finally breaks down after a moment, all but collapsing to his knees, sobbing softly and apologizing over and over again for leaving her alone, for dragging her into everything, for not making it back to the Tower of Joy in time. Tyrion, having followed Rhaegar, does not approach and instead, stays hidden behind a corner, listening to Rhaegar cry.

•Daenerys and Jorah later encounter Samwell Tarly in Winterfell's library. After praising him for realizing the secret behind dragonglass and curing Jorah of his greyscale, she asks if there is anything she can do to repay him. Sam jokingly asks for a pardon for stealing books from the Citadel and for taking his family's ancestral sword without permission. Upon hearing his surname is "Tarly", Daenerys realizes that he is in fact Randyll's son, and proceeds to tell him the difficult truth that his father and brother are being held on Dragonstone for rebelling against Rhaegar, and will have a trial for this crime after Rhaegar takes his throne. Sam is speechless for a few moments before asking to leave the library.

•Rhaegar is on the battlements, studying their composition and how many men could fit without it becoming too cramped when a commotion erupts in the courtyard. He quickly leaves, making his way down, only to pause when he sees who was causing the commotion: Jaime Lannister. He moves quickly, with purpose, striding across the courtyard. He calls out to Jaime by using his title of Kingslayer, and as the Lannister turns, Rhaegar snaps out, striking his jaw with a harsh uppercut that caused a split lip to form. Jon Snow sees what happens and runs forward, separating the two as Rhaegar snarls out how he had trusted Jaime, how he had put him on duty to watch his father because he trusted him, before yelling out why he didn’t try to stop the murder and rape of his wife, Elia Martell, or their children.

•Later, Rhaegar and Daenerys are once again seated at the high table with Jon and Sansa. The two women harshly berate the Kingslayer for his past actions and question whether his loyalty to their cause is genuine. Rhaegar makes idle comments on how Jaime stood by while his family was slaughtered “like cattle”. Only when Brienne of Tarth vouches for Jaime does Sansa trust him, and Daenerys allows his sword to be returned to him. Rhaegar, after a moment, relents- there are bigger monsters to deal with currently.

•Rhaegar finds himself alone in the mess hall, a much needed moment of peace and quiet. He stands, staring at the flames, when Bran wheels himself in. Rhaegar turns, and before he can say anything, Bran says two words that have Rhaegar stilling: he knows. Rhaegar does not attempt to dance around the subject, simply stating that it was not Bran’s place to tell Jon, that he had plans. Bran does not reply. Rhaegar, on his way out, pauses, and states that he had a relative, Bryndyn Rivers, who was rumored to have been the last Three-Eyed Raven. Bran agrees, stating that he is the one who taught Bran and passed the mantel onto him. Rhaegar places a hand on Bran’s shoulder, but he does not speak. He leaves a moment later.

•Jon finds Rhaegar in the chambers Sansa appointed for the Targaryen, and approaches him, distraught over what Samwell has told him. Rhaegar does not speak at first, prompting Jon to grow distraught and ask if it was all true, what Sam had said. Rhaegar replies that yes, it is- that Jon is, indeed, his son. His given name was not Jon, but rather, Jaehaerys, named after Rhaegar’s grandfather, the last sane Targaryen to sit on the Iron Throne. Jon grows angry, asking why he left, why he never tried to reach out, to which Rhaegar, just as distraught, tries to explain what had happened- how he had been nearly killed, and by the time he reached Dragonstone, it was too late and he had to run. That he had correspondence with Ned and Maester Aemon over the years, keeping track of Jon.•He wanted to see him, to visit and be a part of his life- but it would be far too dangerous. Jon then asks if he was ever going to tell him, to which Rhaegar replies yes, he was- after the war was over. Jon then asks if Daenerys knows, and Rhaegar, after a moment, states that she doesn’t; she believes that Rhaegar’s children are dead. Jon doesn’t stay, leaving Rhaegar alone in his chambers. Rhaegar, in a rare fit of rage, tosses a chair across the room, causing it to shatter against the stone wall.

•Later, Daenerys speaks privately with Sansa, addressing some of the thorny political issues involved in their alliance. She also openly confesses her love for Jon, explaining she has had only one goal - retaking the Iron Throne - until she met Jon and now she's in the North helping him fight the Night King and the army of the dead. Although a greater understanding appears to develop between the two women, Sansa remains firm in her conviction that the Northerners will never truly accept an outsider as their ruler again, and bluntly asks Daenerys what Rhaegar’s plans for the North are once the dead have been defeated. The awkward moment is interrupted by Maester Wolkan announcing the arrival of Theon Greyjoy and his men.

•Rhaegar is already within the room when Sansa arrives to greet Theon, and he watches with curiosity, having met the boy back on Dragonstone. After they have their moment, he clears his throat and asks where Yara was, and if he knows what has happened with Ellaria Sand. Theon replies that Yara was the only one on the ship when he arrived, and that he doesn’t know what became of Ellaria. Rhaegar, crestfallen, thanks him before leaving.•Surprisingly, Sansa comes after him, finding him standing upon a battlement overlooking the front gates to Winterfell. She asks him how he finds Winterfell, and he replies simply that it is much colder than he expected. She then asks what his plans are, after he gains the throne- to this, he turns to her and studies her for a long moment before stating that while she favored Catelyn in looks, her strength and biting resolve were that of Lyanna’s. He then explains that after the Throne is taken back, he will call a council of those who are the new heads of the houses of Westeros, and from there, decide on where to go. A change needs to happen, he states with a shake of his head; the time for total control is over, that much he learned in Essos. His ancestors- Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya ruled together. He wants something akin to that- multiple rulers, not just one person, or one council.

•When the survivors from Eastwatch bring the news that the army of the dead will be at Winterfell's gates within a day, preparations inside the castle begin to move forward at a feverish pace. Rhaegar meets with all the prominent commanders and heads of houses to discuss battle strategy. Daenerys finds herself in the crypts with Jon. While standing in front of Lyanna Stark's statue, Daenerys recounts the story of how her brother Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna and drove Robert Baratheon to rebel against the Iron Throne.

•On a prior urging from Samwell, Jon finally reveals the truth about his parentage to Daenerys. She is utterly stunned, and immediately questions the validity of the story. When Jon assures her that it's true, she realizes that Jon actually has a better claim to the throne than she does. Daenerys leaves in a hurry, leaving Jon behind in the crypts. She finds Rhaegar in his rooms, polishing his blades, which is where she demands to know the truth. Rhaegar tells her quickly- yes, Jon in his son, yes, he knew it was him from the moment he saw him, yes, he planned on telling her, and no, he did not kidnap Lyanna. This brings out frustration and anger, and he begins to tell her the full story of how he and Lyanna fell in love; however, before either can discuss the matter further, a horn sounds three times to signal the arrival of the army of the dead. They exchange a look before leaving quickly to find their dragons.

•Rhaegar, Daenerys, and Jon watch with Vhagon, and Rhaenyx, and Meraxal from a distance as the Dothraki charge the army of the dead, but when the Dothraki are slaughtered, Daenerys breaks away from Jon's plan to wait for the Night King and attacks the army of the dead with dragonfire. Rhaegar curses and quickly follows after his younger sister, with Jon trailing behind. Rhaegar keeps lower than Daenerys or Jon, watching the battle unfold. Rhaenyx leaves the dragonfire to Vhagon and Meraxal. Daenerys and Jon's visibility is cut off when the White Walkers summon a blizzard, however. The pair take to the skies above the blizzard while Rhaegar keeps low, circling Winterfell the best he can. Daenerys suddenly plunges on Vhagon, drawing Rhaegar’s attention. When he realizes who she is aiming for, he screams for her to pull up, but his voice is lost in the sound of battle. He watches from the back of Rhaenyx in horror as Vhagon blasts the Night King with fire- but to no avail.

•They escape as the Night King hurls an ice spear at Vhagon. When Jon is surrounded by newly risen wights, Daenerys and Rhaegar save him with Vhagon and Rhaenyx, burning through wights and creating a path for Jon to rush into Winterfell to help Bran and stop the Night King. Rhaegar leaves shortly after, trying to find where Meraxal had flown off to, and is horrified to see the dragon being covered by wights. He and Rhaenyx dive down, freeing Meraxal. However, Rhaegar is thrown from Rhaenyx’s back as Rhaenyx attempts to keep the wights away from Meraxal, leaving Rhaegar to be surrounded with two angry dragons.

•He manages to climb atop Rhaenyx and take to the skies with Meraxal, injured but able to fly, following after. He panics when he realizes that Dany is nowhere to be found. He takes Rhaenyx over Winterfell and blasts what dead he can while Meraxal flies further south, to safety. As Daenerys watches over Jon, wights climb onto Drogon, and Daenerys falls off while Drogon flies away.  She is protected by Jorah, who dies defending her, leaving Daenerys crying hysterically while Vhagon wraps around them after the Army of the Dead falls. Rhaegar, having dropped from Rhaenyx’s back, is fighting alongside those in the courtyard of Winterfell and growing overwhelmed by the minute, until the Army of the Dead suddenly falls.

•After the battle, which saw a living victory, Rhaegar and Daenerys mourn the dead outside Winterfell, lighting a pyre. He steps forward with Daenerys to light their funeral pyre; she kisses the dead Jorah's forehead and whispers something to him before Rhaegar lights the pyre. Later, the siblings celebrate at the feast inside Winterfell. Tormund makes a toast to Daenerys, "To the Ruby King!"- a new title for Rhaegar, and Daenerys stands up herself, toasting Arya Stark as the "Hero of Winterfell." However, despite her initially celebratory mood and the smiles she exchanges with Jon, Daenerys's mood grows downcast when she finds herself worried over Jon's popularity among the Northmen, Valemen, and wildlings compared to Rhaegar’s popularity. Rhaegar, on the other hand, is celebrating just as much- congratulating Jon and toasting. Daenerys rises to leave, but Rhaegar stops her with a hand on her arm, shaking his head. It is then that Tyrion speaks up, requesting a song from Rhaegar. The hall falls silent, as many who are there have heard of the Targaryen’s voice moving people to tears. Rhaegar, flustered but still reeling from their victory, agrees and begins to sing The Night That Ended; no one joins in, and the hall is surprisingly silent as he sings. Daenerys sits beside him with a fond smile.

•Daenerys finds Jon in his chambers that night and they kiss, beginning to undress, before Jon stops himself due to learning of their relation. Daenerys laments that she wishes Jon never told her about his true identity because otherwise, she'd be happy- they’d both be happy. Daenerys tells Jon it doesn't matter what he wants or how many times he swears fealty to Rhaegar - he didn't want to be King in the North either. Jon gets on one knee before her and says that Rhaegar is his king. Daenerys begs Jon not to tell anyone else about his parentage, fearing that it will destroy them. Jon insists he must tell his sisters because he owes them the truth about who he is, certain it will work out and they can all live together. However, Dany believes the only way they can live together is if Jon keeps his identity secret.

•Rhaegar spends the night alone, walking the halls of Winterfell until he finally grows too restless and goes to leave, only to be stopped by Sandor Clegane, who asks him what he was planning on doing. Rhaegar confesses he needed to get out of Winterfell for a bit; The Hound decides that he’s going to join him. The pair walk out of Winterfell’s gates in relative silence. Sandor breaks the silence by asking if Rhaegar plans on killing Cersei or Jaime or his brother. Rhaegar hesitates before answering that Cersei will have a trial once King’s Landing is taken; while he would love to kill the man who took his children and beloved away from him, he believes that the honor should belong to Sandor. The Hound doesn’t reply, and leaves Rhaegar to be alone afterwards. Rhaegar, instead of returning to Winterfell, continues his walk, eventually finding the dragons, each asleep. Rhaenyx awakens first and watches as he approaches, but does not stop him. Rhaegar settles down on the ground beside the dragon, who lowers his head and covers Rhaegar, all but hiding him from view. In the silence of the night, Rhaegar allows himself to grieve for those he had lost.

•Come morning, no one can find Rhaegar. A panic sweeps through Winterfell before Arya arrives with Rhaegar trailing behind, the pair both looking amused at the situation. Arya explains that she had watched him leave Winterfell the night before, and curiosity drew her to look for him- and get a closer look at the dragons. Rhaegar then leads a war council for the resumed campaign against Cersei Lannister for the Iron Throne. They will not sail immediately to King’s Landing, despite Daenerys’ argument that they should march now. Rhaegar counters, agreeing with the Lady Sansa that their men are exhausted and injured; marching to King’s Landing right now would be marching them all to their deaths- again. They would wait five days, giving the men time to rest. He ends the meeting, though requests to speak with Daenerys and Jon alone. However, Jon has already disappeared, leaving the siblings to have a tense stand off before Daenerys leaves without a word.

•Later, Rhaegar is in the crypts beneath Winterfell once more, standing before Ned’s statue. Sansa finds him here; she makes to leave at first before he speaks up, stating that while she may favor the Tully side in looks, her personality was purely Stark. She takes this as a cue to approach him, and she admits that she did not know Lady Lyanna, but had heard plenty of tales. Rhaegar smiles and tells her the story of how Lyanna poured wine over her brother’s head. A moment of silence passes before he turns and studies her, before sighing and asking if Jon has spoken with her and Arya. She says that he has- that she had, admittedly, been looking for Rhaegar to ask if it truly was so- that he was his son. Rhaegar nods slowly, and Sansa gets a pensive look about her before asking why he didn’t come after Jon. It is then that he begins to recount to her the tale of Elia, Lyanna, and himself as they make their way back to the surface: the murder of his father, his mother’s death giving birth to Daenerys, how they had to flee Westeros completely and seek shelter in Essos. How he sent ravens to Ned and Aemon, asking after Jon. How assassins had been sent after himself and his siblings, and how dangerous it would be if the world knew that he had a living heir in Westeros.

•They depart from one another afterwards, where Sansa runs into Tyrion and tells him of what she had learned. Rhaegar, meanwhile, went to find Daenerys and Jon; they would be leaving at dawn. He gave Jon the choice: travel by dragon, or ride by horse. Jon, after a moment, admits that he isn’t used to riding on the back of a dragon yet, and relents to lead their forces by horseback. Rhaegar agrees.

•As his fleet is sailing back to Dragonstone, Rhaeagar rides Rhaenyx next to Daenerys on Vhagon, with Meraxal trailing behind, when suddenly three bolts are fired, narrowly missing the dragons. Rhaegar yells for Daenerys to fly higher while Meraxal soars ahead quickly, weaving towards their fleet. Euron's Iron Fleet reveals itself from behind Dragonstone's rocks and tries to take down Daenerys and Vhagon as they escape, but are unable to do as they pull back. Rhaenyx turns and takes them around the back of Euron’s fleet, allowing Rhaegar to get a look at just what he was dealing with. To his dismay, the part of the Iron Company he had left behind had joined with Euron. Euron instead targets Rhaegar’s fleet, destroying it and capturing Missandei in the process.

•Rhaegar, furious with this outcome, returns to Dragonstone. There, both siblings become tempted to storm King's Landing. However, Rhaegar is brought back down by Varys, who reminds him that while it may be a tempting idea- there were far too many innocent lives at stake. Daenerys, Tyrion, Varys, and Grey Worm parley with Cersei outside the gates of King's Landing, where Cersei threatens to execute Missandei in front of them. She taunts them, asking if Rhaegar had decided to give up, to turn tail and flee like he once did, when the roar of a dragon is heard. Rhaegar soars overhead upon Rhaenyx, landing upon a spire beside Cersei. Rhaenyx takes out two scorpions with his tail, and another with dragonfire before Rhaegar dismounts. He asks Cersei if she knew of the casks of wildfire beneath the streets. On cue, a burst of green flame shoots into the air, startling Cersei and giving Rhaegar the chance to grab Missandei and pull her behind himself.  In the midst of the chaos and confusion, a Scorpion looses a bolt- only for it to fly wide and crash into the road below.

•Rhaegar gives Cersei an ultimatum: give up now, and King’s Landing will not suffer. Refuse, and come dawn, King’s Landing will no longer belong to the Lannisters. Cersei commands for the Mountain to kill Rhaegar. Before he can move, Rhaenyx releases a blast of dragonfire close enough that it scorches Cersei’s dress, allowing Rhaegar and Missandei to climb atop Rhaenyx, who takes to the skies quickly and retreats to safety behind their lines. Missandei and Daenerys have a tearful reunion before Grey Worm takes her into his arms.

•Rhaegar states simply that Cersei would not compromise. Come morning, King’s Landing would no longer belong to the Lannisters. He leaves them, then, despite Tyrion calling after him, and makes his way towards the camp that had been set up. There, he meets with his guards, who had caught Jaime attempting to sneak into the city. Rhaegar sits down with the man, removing his chains and offering him a cup of wine. Rhaegar does not speak, allowing the silence to grow until Jaime finally breaks and asks if Rhaegar intends to kill him and Cersei. He replies that no- Cersei will not die. She will have a trial- but she needs to abdicate the throne, lest Rhaegar be forced to take it by force. Before Jaime can begin to defend her, he adds that her sentence would be less severe, should Jaime bend the knee. He knows that Cersei is pregnant, and guesses correctly that the child is Jaime’s.

•Jaime, after a moment, settles down onto one knee, and bends the knee to Rhaegar. Rhaegar takes this time to ask Jaime why he did it- why he killed Aerys. Jaime replies that Aerys would kill Rhaegar if he knew about Lyanna, and that Aerys would had been killed anyway because Tywinn would not have let him live. When asked about Elia, Jaime falls silent and admits the fault was purely on his part, that he should have gone to them, and he regrets it every single day. Rhaegar agrees- that he, too, regrets not being here. He admits that he can still hear Elia’s voice singing Dornish lullabies to Rhaenys and Aegon.

•It is in the early morning hours that news breaks; Varys had spread word of Jon being Rhaegar’s son. Daenerys becomes enraged, saying that it should have been kept a secret, that Jon should never had told Sansa the truth. Rhaegar counters that Jon was not raised to be a Targaryen, that he was a Stark, and those were his sisters- his family. The ones he had grown up with, lived with, eaten with. However, it was not Varys’ place to spread word. Rhaegar brings Varys to Dragonstone, where they hold a mock trial; Rhaegar explains that, by all means, he should kill Lord Varys. He should allow Rhaenyx to snap his spine and burn him alive. Rhaenyx even begins to creep forward, but Rhaegar stops the dragon. Instead, he states that he will allow Varys to live. This was the first time he had crossed Rhaegar- and the last. Should it happen again, he would not live to see the dawn. He leaves Varys on the rock outcropping as the sun begins to rise over the horizon, painting the ocean vivid hues of orange, yellow, red- like dragonfire.

•Later, Rhaegar calls Daenerys and Jon into a private bedchamber to talk. He begins by saying that the room they were in had once been his; it was now striped of everything that had belonged him. He turns to them, and asks Jon if he was okay with word now spreading that he is Rhaegar’s child. Jon hesitates, conflicted; he states that he hadn’t meant for word to spread. Rhaegar replies that it is too late now- the Lords and Ladies of Westeros would soon know the truth, and that Jon should prepare himself for that. Rhaegar hesitates for a moment before stating that he has not chosen an heir- that, technically, Jon should be his heir, but Daenerys had a viable claim since she is his sister. He leaves them afterwards to talk amongst themselves.  

•Rhaegar consults with Tyrion on how best to go about this; Euron’s fleet would need to be destroyed, as would the Scorpions atop the battlements. However, he does not wish to end innocent lives if at all possible, which Tyrion agrees with. Daenerys asks why they wouldn’t simply storm King’s Landing and destroy it. Rhaegar replies that while it had never been Dany’s home, it had once been his, and the people within King’s Landing were innocents, held hostage by a tyrant- ever since Robert Baratheon had died. Tyrion responds that the smallfolk are afraid of Cersei because Cersei will punish any rebellious acts. Daenerys counters that Cersei is using mercy as a weakness against them but Cersei is wrong, mercy is their strength - her mercy for the future generations of Westeros, not those in the present. Rhaegar shuts her down quickly, reminding her that they are not Aerys- that, as much as he would enjoy seeing the Red Keep fall- they would not burn the city. They would give them mercy.•Before Tyrion leaves, Rhaegar informs them both that Jaime was caught by his men trying to get past their lines. Rhaegar informs Tyrion that Jaime is not a prisoner- that he has bent the knee and swore to serve Rhaegar once more. Daenerys asks Rhaegar if they can trust Jaime, to which Rhaegar and Tyrion reply simultaneously with a simple “yes”. Come morning two days later, Rhaegar flies over King’s Landing- high above, hidden by clouds, though the sound of wings beating could be heard. It is as if the city stands still as they listen; Cersei can be seen peering into the clouds, looking, listening, straining to catch a glimpse of Rhaegar.

•Daenerys attacks Euron's Iron Fleet atop Vhagon as the Battle of King's Landing begins, sinking the fleet and destroying the scorpions. Rhaegar suddenly appears, looking as if Rhaenyx were falling, when suddenly the pair sweep low along the walls of King’s Landing, destroying scorpion after scorpion while Daenerys lands Vhagon atop a tower. Meraxal appears, and upon his back sits Jon Snow, who lands outside of the gates. Terrified screams can be heard from the people below.

•Rhaegar has Rhaenyx fly up once more, taking to the clouds over King’s Landing, where the silhouette of Rhaenyx can be seen through the clouds, casting a shadow over the city. Daenerys destroys the gate and its walls that the Golden Company guards, killing many of the sellswords from the debris that falls upon them. This allows the Dothraki, Unsullied, the Northern and the Vale armies to destroy the remaining sellsword contingent and charge into the city. Overwhelmed, the Lannister soldiers surrender despite Cersei not ordering it, ringing the city's bells. A piercing cry from Rhaenyx has Vhagon and Meraxal taking to the skies as the bells ring out. While the two dragons circle King’s Landing like dogs herding cattle, Rhaenyx suddenly plummets once more, settling atop the Red Keep. Rhaenyx cranes his neck down, allowing Rhaegar to see Cersei, in which he informs her that her soldiers have surrendered their arms, that her people are being evacuated, and that as they speak, Unsullied are making their way through the Red Keep, slaughtering her soldiers. She barks back that Euron’s fleet was still there, to which Rhaegar shakes his head slowly. She asks about the Golden Company- and he shakes his head once more.

•He asks her if she will abdicate the throne peacefully, or if he needed to take it by force. The sound of battle can be heard growing closer; she can be seen casting a wary glance to the doors, to the Mountain, before looking back towards Rhaegar. Just before the door breaks down, she relents.

•Rhaeagar gives her a small, sad smile. Rhaenyx releases another cry, which Vhagon and Meraxal echo. He informs her that, should she attempt to escape, he would kill Jaime (a bluff, though she is not aware of it); that he has him outside of the city, surrounded by Dothraki screamers who are dying to bloody their blades. She relents, and the Mountain leads her and Maester Qyburn down from the tower; the steps are cleared of her soldiers, and Rhaegar’s Unsullied remain. At the bottom of the steps stand Daenerys and Grey Worm. On Daenerys’ order, Grey Worm shackles both Cersei and Qyburn.

•The Hound appears, then, and the battle between brothers commences. Daenerys orders no one to intervene, despite her growing horror. Finally, Sandor has Gregor on his knees, and decapitates him, ending the Mountain once and for all. The Hound falls to his knees, grievously injured, though he does not succumb to his wounds.

•Thousands of the surrendered soldiers and innocent civilians are gathered outside of the Red Keep and in the streets with Northmen and the armies of the Vale. In front stand the Unsullied; at the very back, the Dothraki sit on their horses, screaming and cheering. Rhaegar stands above them with Daenerys to his right and Jon to his left. Jaime stands off to the side beside Tyrion. Here, Rhaegar gives his speech to the people, proclaiming that the Lannisters are no longer the rulers of Westeros. Cersei has abdicated the throne, the very same throne that his ancestor, Aegon Targaryen, forged. He explains that he will take the throne as the Rightful Heir, and they will begin to rebuild the damages caused to King’s Landing, as well as holding a trial for the crimes that Cersei Lannister has committed, as well as one for Euron Greyjoy, who had been captured by Theon and Yara Greyjoy. Maester Qyburn would be stripped of his chains, and held accountable for the crimes he’s committed.

•He adds that a Great Council will be formed in the coming months of the Lords and Ladies of Westeros. Things would be changing; no longer would a tyrant rule. He leaves it at that as the crowd cheers.

[happywitch416]

Chapter 33

The air warmed the closer they drew to Solitude and Elena took a deep breath, feeling her shoulders relax and weariness of the past months travel beginning to ease. Home was just around the bend, the lighthouse just behind. She turned with a grin to Serana. "Do you think-"

A deafening roar filled the skies, followed by the panicked screams of the city. Elena lurched to a stop, her heart slamming against her ribs. "No." Her eyes fixed on the city above willed the dragon to appear over the marsh. Another roar and flames erupted in the palace district. "No." Serana wasn’t sure when Elena had gone from still to moving but she was almost out of sight before she had her own feet going. "Here!" Elena veered from the road to the rock face. "Short cut."

For a panicked moment, Serana thought she meant climbing the cliff face and let out a half sigh of relief when Elena slammed her hand into a hidden button launching open the door and led them into the earth. 

They came out under the windmill, fires raging as guards volleyed arrow after arrow skyward. Townsfolk ran screaming for cover, the blacksmith ordering those who weren’t to douse the fires. Several mages appeared settling ice over blazes as quickly as they could, but more fire rained down from the sky faster than they could put it out. "Serana." Elena's fingers were tight on her arm, her face pale and eyes wild. "Get the girls. There’s a wall in the basement, Runa knows." 

Serana nodded and Elena went to dash back into the tower and its stairs that continued to wind upward. She grabbed her arm and pulled Elena to her for a searing kiss. "You come back to us." Elena blinked several times wonder filling her face for the briefest of moments before she nodded and disappeared up the stairs. 

 Runa hit the button, once twice three times and the wall didn’t move in. Joris looked to Ilia and Serana over the girls’ heads. "I’ll stand outside." She said roughly. Ilia shook her head, whatever plea dying unspoken as Serana interrupted. 

"We can get to the windmill, it’s not far, and then down." 

Runa clapped her hands drawing startled looks from the adults. "I know a safe way past the house of the dead, it goes right at the wall." 

Runa hadn’t been joking, the little space had been tight for the adults, but it popped them out within feet of the wall. Serana led the way, Jordis and Ilia bringing up the rear but none of them could grab Sofia when she dashed from the wall. "It’s mama!" 

Serana's heart fell, she hadn't realized the city had grown silent watching with bated breath as the lone woman perched on the battlements stared down the dragon. Sofia went running towards Dour and Serana caught her, hands firm on her shoulders. "Your mother would never forgive me." 

"Where's the guard?" Tears began to fall as another burst of sunlight splintered above them. "Serana, why aren't they helping her?" 

"Kaan drem ov." The dragon speech echoed down and Serana didn't answer, didn't know how. Elena's voice cracked through the sky again. "KAAN DREM OV!" 

The dragon's roar sounded like mocking laughter and Elena let loose another arrow, striking true. It faltered, its wings falling and dropping it briefly before roaring again. 

"Krii Lun Aus." Wind whipped through the city biting with cold, an eerie smoke forming around the dragon before a war cry rent the air followed by flashes of light that left their vision speckled and ears ringing. The dragon crashed to earth, tail narrowly missing the houses as they flattened themselves against the wall. The smoke was replaced with a golden light swirling around the dragon as the body burst into flames. The gold swirled upward, enveloping Elena who was still standing on the battlements before forming into golden dragon wings that stretched from her shoulders. The silence held for a breath then two before the city erupted into cheers as the wings faded. 

  Once the shock had worn off the city erupted back into motion, putting out fires and tending the wounded. Elena had thrown herself into making potions with Angeline, tried her best to ignore everyone who came to stare, tried to ignore the questions even more. Angeline shooed them gently away and quietly suggested Elena take the back still room. Serana found her much later. She was folded into the furthest corner of the ramparts, head against her knees and hair falling around her. Serana scuffed her boot, not wanting to startle her. Green eyes peeked from behind the red curls before disappearing again. "Are you alright?" 

"No." Her voice was hoarse, throat aching from using words not meant for human tongues. 

Serana settled before her and let the quiet rest for a time. The sun was sunk almost below the horizon when she spoke again. "What happened?" 

Elena’s continued silence was finally broken with a long sigh. "I..." She took a deep breath. "I am not just Kyne’s Champion. I am Dragonborn." 

Serana reached out gently, fingers soft against her arm. "And that means?" 

"It’s an old story and a prophecy." She mumbled into her legs. "But one every Nord knows by heart before they reach their tenth year." She looked up finally and only her training at the Bards College got her voice past the tightness in her throat. "When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world. When the Brass Tower walks, and Time is reshaped. When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles. When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls. When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding. The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn." 

"The World Eater?" 

She settled her face against her knees again, arms wrapped tight around them. "Alduin, Firstborn of Akatosh. The World Eater is a dragon." 

Serana stared at her. "It’s another scroll prophecy isn’t it?" 

"Of a sort. Alduin was defeated by Nords who had learned the Thu’um." Her rueful laugh was short-lived. "The song does a better job telling the supposed prophecy." 

"That’s the one you pay them not to play." A noise of affirmation rumbled from Elena. "How does it go?" 

Elena sighed, straightening. Dark half-moons had settled under her eyes, between them and the growing the dark, her eyes took on an eerie glow that reminded Serana of the golden power from the dragon. Her voice was barely a whisper. "And the Scrolls have foretold, of black wings in the cold, that when brothers wage war come unfurled. Alduin, Bane of Kings, ancient shadow unbound, with a hunger to swallow the world." 

"That’s not the whole song." Came a voice from the stairs. Maga leaned a little heavily on the stone, exhaustion settling deep in her old bones. "Good to see you again, Serana." She gave a serene nod before fixing back on Elena. "And you have finally grown big enough balls to accept who you are." 

"Mother-." 

"Don’t. I won’t hear it. Nor will Kynareth." She leaned down and poked Elena’s shoulder hard enough Serana winced. "And what kind of example are you setting for your girls?" 

A strangled sob left Elena as she threw herself to her feet. "You think I’m not thinking of them??" 

"Elena-." She folded her hands calmly into the long sleeves of her robe when Elena cut her off as she started to pace. 

"The last time I was here you yelled at me for never being home and now you want me to go fight the Eater of the World? That's not a day trip!" She looked around desperately for something, anything to fill her hands with but there was nothing but stone. Her fingers found the pulse in her wrist and squeezed. "I didn’t even get to see them! I still haven’t!" Her eyes fell closed and she slumped into herself. "What if I hadn’t been here. What if I was too late." 

"You have the power to make sure it never happens again." Maga said simply. 

"And what if I can’t?" Her eyes snapped back open with a snarl. “What if I am not this supposed hero, just an unlucky bastard cursed with this voice?”

"That’s for the Greybeards to decide. Going to speak to them would do you some good. You haven’t been to the Throat of World since you left for the Legion." She shook invisible wrinkles from her robe. "Kyne will have the answers you seek." 

"I don’t want answers." She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I don’t want this." 

Maga stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her. "I know, my darling girl. Maybe Magurn and I shouldn’t have called you our dragon child. But you have been called." She squeezed gently and stepped away. "And if you don’t answer, how many more times will you have this fear? How many parents will you have face this same fear, when they are powerless to stop it?" 

She spoke so softly her words were almost lost to the wind that started to blow. "I’ll go."

Chapter 34

"But you just got home!"

"That’s not fair!" 

"But mama!" 

Elena settled heavily against the table, arms crossed as the girls let her know their opinion on her leaving. Again. "I know, loves. But I." She took a deep breath. "It’s not that I want to. I would rather stay here." 

"Could someone else stop the dragons?" Sofie asked softly her face falling when Elena shook her head with a shrug. "Promise you’ll be back soon?" 

She held out her arms and the girls piled into them and she brushed kisses to the tops of their heads. "As soon as I can." She took a deep breath, hoping this feeling would last up the 7000 steps.

That they still loved her when she came back down.

Chapter 35

“You didn’t have to come along you know.” Elena fought to hide her grin as Serana pulled her hood up again. She had given up keeping hers up in the wild mountain wind several thousand steps down. 

“And miss seeing this place?” She gave her a halfhearted glare. “After hearing your terrible descriptions of places?” Serana pitched her voice. “It had rocks. And some flowers, the little yellow ones. And water.” Elena let out a snort of laughter, taking the criticism with grace. “There’s a reason why you have so many books.”

“Yes, yes or I’d bore the girls to death. So I have heard.” They came to another waymarker and Elena fell silent, running her fingers over the etched words for a long moment before moving on. “It’s not the same anymore.”

“More exciting the first time?”

She shook her head. “Emptier. Like.” She grew quieter again, studying the ground before their feet. “Like it’s just wind here, there’s nothing. Just wind.” Serana watched her quietly, as Elena’s brows furrowed. “This is supposed to be the most sacred of places in Skyrim to Kyne. And yet it's empty.”

“Maybe she’s not a fan of the cold.” Serana let out a huff of relief at the smile that cracked Elena’s face. A question came to the forefront of her mind, one that she had been ignoring ever since the defeat of the dragon and had spent the better part of their journey shoving into a far corner. The carefree touches and closeness she had come to associate with Elena were gone. She caught herself reaching out only to fall back, and Elena avoided her, the moments she knew that would have been filled with an arm around her or a brush of her forehead against hers were replaced with a tenseness and wariness that reminded her of a trapped animal.

 The snow picked up and with a groan, Elena led them into a hollow in the cliffside to wait it out. She settled cross-legged on the ground, trying to find her center, reaching out around them. And felt nothing. She let it go and studied Serana for a time. Serana stared out at the snow with a slight frown and a stillness that mirrored the stone around them. “You’re brooding.” 

“Hardly.” Elena's only response was a disbelieving quirk of her eyebrows. With a heavy sigh, Serana joined her, mirroring Elena’s position. The blinding white of the snow cast her into a dark shadow except for the glow of her eyes. “About before, with the dragon in Solitude.”

Elena’s thumb made its way to her wrist, settling firmly against the bone there as her gaze emptied. “When you kissed me.”

“I apologize if-.”

A short, harsh laugh interrupted her. “By the winds, you think I’m upset?” Amusement settled into the quirk of her lips, her gaze warming but panic flickered across her face too. Serana managed a mute nod. “Serana. I.” She fell quiet and shook her head. “I did not mind in the slightest. It was. Nice.”

“Oh.”

Elena grumbled, brows furrowing as the line of her mouth hardened a moment. “I’m not. Ugh.” She met Serana’s gaze, searching for a moment before the words rushed out of her. “I have wanted to forever and I’ve wanted to kiss you back, but I was worried you regretted it or needed space to think. I know I am not anything special and you-.” Serana cut her off with a soft kiss, staying close when they parted. “Oh.”

Serana laughed softly. “I wouldn’t have if I didn’t want you to.”

“Oh.” Elena’s lip caught between her teeth a moment, cheeks flushed crimson, joy and wonder in her eyes. She reached up, faltering a moment, her thumb gentle along Serana’s chin and jaw. “Can I?” The barest of nods and Serana’s laugh was cut short by the heated press of Elena’s lips on hers.

A Warrior’s Heart

[raw-output]

Septober 3rd, 5536

Engie’s old mantra came flooding into her abstract, subjectless dreams like a clap of thunder.

Assess. Respond. Evaluate.

She woke with a gasp, the servos of her prosthetic right arm humming timidly as she reached up to rub some semblance of wakefulness into her wrinkled face. The workshop was just as she had left it, hours or days ago. She’d long stopped counting years, but by her most recent estimation she should be well past her eightieth year, if she didn’t count the centuries spent in cryptosleep. Regular sleep had been coming to her in fits and starts in the decades since The Mind reached out across the uninhabited expanses and did something to her, along with the others it touched. Most had recovered. Some, like Engie, were forever changed. A few hadn’t made it. Engie rose out of her armchair and made her way into the kitchen. Moe was there, hanging up his leather duster on a wooden wall hook.

“Hey ma,” he greeted her.

“Hey yourself, kiddo. What time is it?” The curtains were drawn over the room’s sole window.

“Three in the afternoon, last I checked. Were you resting? Sorry if I woke you...”

“Nah, I’ve slept enough. Stuff to do, people to see. What’s for lunch?”

“Well, more like breakfast for you,” Moe chuckled. “We got bacon, and we got mashed taters from yesterday.”

“Don’t you get cute with me,” Engie chided jokingly. “It’s not morning, so it’s not breakfast.”

"I know, I know.”

Moe began frying the bacon. The sizzling strips of meat soon filled the kitchen with an irresistible aroma. Engie took the simple copper tableware from the cupboard and set it out. The coffee pot was still half-full of yesterday’s batch of cold-brew, so she poured two cups and added some milk to her son’s portion.

Moe laid out the steaming bacon and fluffy dollops of mashed potato on the two plates and sat down across the small, rough wooden table from her. They spent the next few minutes quietly enjoying their meal. Engie couldn’t help but study her son’s face as she chewed. It wasn’t a mean feat of deduction that they were not related by blood - Moe’s round, pale bearded face and blue eyes were a stark contrast to her own dark angular complexion, worn sharper still by time. Yet there was strength there, a resolve to create and to aid, to build and to repair which was undoubtedly hers, and that filled her with more motherly pride than she would ever openly admit.

“Got the circuit boards ready,” she finally spoke after swallowing the last of her food and washing it down with a copious gulp of cold, bitter coffee. 

“Awesome, Blue and Seven will be glad to hear it. Their patients, too.”

Engie’s fellow survivors were running a combination hospital and trade post across town. Smith & Son Scrapworks, as Engie and Moe called themselves these days, had a lucrative contract with them. Word had been getting out by courier and by drop pod about a town where miracles of medicine happened, where a missing limb or a gouged eye could be treated with more than words of pity and poppy extract. The new circuit boards would soon become vital sign monitors - Engie had spent countless hours poring over the ancient schematics for the devices, painstakingly translating unfamiliar writing and arbitrary electronic symbols.

“I’ll grab ‘em and head on over there, then. We need anything in particular from the trade post? They say there’s a new ship in orbit...”

“Nah, nothing particular. Anything catches your eye, just buy it.”

“Sounds like a plan, ma. You coming along?”

“Not feeling it today. Gonna tinker some more. Say hello to Blue and Seven for me.”

-

Assess. Respond. Evaluate.

She’d lived a life of assessing and responding, and now she found herself with plenty of time on her hands for evaluation. She sent a mental command to her prosthetic arm, and a fingertip split, revealing a small but powerful soldering iron. She had more circuit boards to build, these ones not slated for anyone in particular. She wanted to see if she could bring one of her dozen disabled mechanoid weapons back to life. Her hands seemed to take on a mind of their own, and she drifted off to another reminiscence amidst the smell of hot metal and piney rosin vapor.

-

The Mind had awakened deep underground, originally part of an automated chemical refinery’s management AI. Bereft of purpose and driven quite mad by centuries of isolation, it amused itself by projecting its influence at any ship that had the misfortune of maneuvering into range. It had been three years since Engie’s crash landing when The Mind grew weary of the inevitable survivors of its previous follies and sent an army of mechanical soldiers to scour the planet of organic sentience. They attacked everywhere, not just the little farmstead that Engie and her fellow survivors called home. The mechanoids marched on foot or dropped in pods and slaughtered indiscriminately - human and animal, tribesman and bandit alike, the mad intelligence’s psychomagnetic emanations softening up the opposition before any physical fighting ever began.

Engie and her three companions were forced to abandon their hard-earned home, making the grueling two-week march to Droptown - a small hamlet that passed for the center of civilization on the continent. It was the stuff of nightmares - voices whispering unspeakable suggestions and demands directly into their neurons from unseen antennas and unreachable satellites, mechanized death mere hours behind on the best of days. Blue was the one who’d pulled them through in the end. Engie never learned the whole story, but something inside her brain resonated with the AI’s mental onslaught. Blue managed to not only shield them all from The Mind’s influence, but trace the signal to its source. After years spent desperately fortifying and defending Droptown, it had also been Blue who led the unified counterattack against the now-unsealed underground complex where the AI’s core lay. The humans’ cumbersome, steam-powered armored crawlers, Muffalo-drawn wagons, and hand carts took more than a year to make the journey across the continent, but they brought enough materials to establish a foothold right at the entrance to the AI’s domain. It was there, on her morning rounds along the barely-set concrete battlements, that Engie lost her right arm - a toroid of searing plasma from a mechanoid’s charge rifle neatly severed and cauterized the limb. Ironically, the original replacement that Seven and Moe had managed to graft onto her stump came from another of The Mind’s robotic soldiers.

The war came to an end as abruptly as it began. There were no long monologues of a doomed villain, no desperate final duel. Concrete fortifications held the machines at bay as they pulled back from elsewhere to defend The Mind, joined by the newly made ones pouring out of its underground factories. The engineers toiled in underground chambers, hidden from satellite observation, until finally a series of switches was thrown and the concealed drill rigs punched a dozen holes down into The Mind’s inner sanctum. Pumps whirred to life and shot ton after ton of saturated, highly conductive brine directly into what passed for the mad AI’s brain. Days later, the last of the now-autonomous - and therefore much stupider - mechanoids had been put down.

Moe - then still styling himself “Shlap” - asked to be her apprentice then. It would be years before she’d finally manage to convince the young man to abandon his slave name, and years more before he’d first call her “Ma”.

Blue didn’t waste time on the return trip. With a newfound confidence, she asked Seven to stay with her. Engie still smiled at the memory of the disheveled young man asking her for advice one last time.

“There was a song I used to sing, back before all this,” Engie told him. “It was a bit of a hymn for me and the others at the foundry. I always figured I had more of a mind for metal than people, but I’d say it signifies in general.”

Seven had stayed silent, and she sang as well as her maimed larynx would let her:

The hottest forge

Makes strongest steel

Whatever comes,

The bonds are real.

There comes a time

For every sword

To be complete,

To leave the forge.

The young man nodded silently and strode away. He and Blue had their first child next Aprimay, shortly after opening the Health & Wealth in Droptown.

-

Engie pulled herself free from her reverie and idly wiped away a tear. She heard footsteps outside, and the thud of a closing door.

“You’re not going to believe this, ma,” Moe exclaimed from the kitchen.

He set down a small, but visibly heavy parcel on the table, wrapped in layers of burlap and twine. The two of them tore at it impatiently.

“You’d be surprised, kiddo,” Engie quipped. “Live as long as me and you’ll believe just about anything.”

The final layers of wrapping came loose, revealing a delicate contraption of brass, steel and black enamel.

For once, she really didn’t believe it.

[trulycertain]

Reprise (6/8)

Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five

In this chapter: slightly less stupidity than usual.

vi. we can only understand what we are shown

Dorian wakes, shivering, from dreams of laughter in his ear and kisses along his spine, and doesn’t hasten to the nearest source of alcohol. He hates to admit it, but he has work to do. 

After a perfunctory, half-freezing bath that mostly involved splashing water into his face and cursing his stupidity – he barely bothered to warm the water, and he wonders if he isn’t some kind of masochist – he all but throws on clothes and robes. The garb of a magister feels oddly like armour. He lines his eyes, for appearance’s sake more than anything, waxes his moustache, and then assesses himself in the looking-glass, wrinkling his nose. To anyone else, there would be little difference. He looks at the hollowness in his eyes and the tired darkness around them, and thinks he looks like shit.

After another session of glaring at Venatori missives and finding nothing – just him, Mae and Lucia, because the raiding party is meeting to discuss last plans and the world has some mercy; he’s not sure he could stand to be in the same room as Gal, not now – they disperse. He stands there, in the mostly-empty mages’ tower, and exhales.

It’s too quiet here without a task to puzzle out. It allows him to think, and that’s dangerous when every time he closes his eyes, he can still feel Gal’s hands on him. When he can do little but think of that terrible slip of the tongue - so frighteningly true, because everything he hasn’t said and has tried not to think has been amatus, even after…

He curses under his breath and walks out of the room without another word. He hears Mae say something from behind him, but he keeps going.

He manages to make it halfway through his drink before there’s the quiet sliding of silk robes and she takes a seat next to him. “It sounds like you’re moping,” she says quietly.

He frowns. “I hadn’t said anything.”

“Exactly. And you’ve ended up in the nearest tavern. That sounds like the Dorian Pavus I knew in Qarinus.”

He looks into a glass of the only half-decent wine he could find. Too dry, but perhaps everything tastes sour today; he can’t think why. Not that that matters – if he can throw it back fast enough, it will barely have to touch his tongue. “I’ve done something very, very stupid.”

Mae sighs and moves to lean on the bar next to him. After making the “what he’s having” gesture to the barmaid, she says in a resigned tone, “Was ‘something stupid’ called Galahad Trevelyan?”

He tenses, looks around them to see if anyone’s heard. “You can’t just say things like that.” He scrapes a hand through his hair. “We’re not - ” He takes a rather undignified swig of wine. “Besides, no-one calls him Galahad.” The words are too bitter.

“He broke my friend’s heart. I’m calling him Galahad.” The wine finally arrives, and she thanks the bartender before taking a sip, and then grimacing. “I thought you told me they could occasionally find a decent grape down south.”

Dorian can’t bring himself to play along. He rests his head in his hand, and says, “How am I meant to look him in the eye?”

“The same way you used to look at every other noble’s son. It was never a problem before.”

“They were different. I didn’t - ” He swallows wine to drown the words fighting to leave his mouth, and his eyes sting. No, no, no. Not again.

There’s a silence, and he thinks she’s probably mulling that over. “Still?” she says, sounding surprised.

“I never stopped.” He realises his voice sounds more than a little despairing. He drains the wine and says, “Now if you’ll excuse me…”

With the reflexes of a consummate caster, she grabs his arm. “No. You’re going to tell me what happened, or I’m going to Fade-pull his intestines out of his nose.”

He blinks, fighting mental images, but the distraction is enough. He turns, and tries to find the words, sagging. “He apologised, Maevaris.” He sighs, and rubs a hand over his forehead. “It was precisely what I’d wanted to hear. He was practically on his knees. And I… I couldn’t stand it.”

She frowns. “Was this you being contrary again?”

He shakes his head. “I think he actually meant it.”

Raising an eyebrow, she prods, “And then?”

“What do you think?” he grits out.

“Oh,” she sighs.

“I thought that it must just be the sex, because it’s always just the sex, no matter what they say, and for all the I love you nonsense, he couldn’t be bothered to stay either, in the end. I thought… well, getting it out of my system worked so well last time I was here.” He laughs bitterly and swigs. “You know, I almost miss the days when I thought that was all I could have. Easier to be disappointed. And I’ve…” He touches an absentminded hand to the back of his neck. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Dorian…”

He presses his fingers to his forehead. “Forgive me. I need to be… somewhere else.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” “This was my own stupidity. Just let me… let me deal with it, for now.”

She scoffs. “And this is your idea of dealing with it?”

“Mae, this is mine.” He runs his palms over his forehead, through his hair. “This whole fucking mess… I’m responsible for it, and it’s mine alone. My fault.”

“I know. And I know you’ll solve it, too, because you’re brilliant, darling.” Mae’s never been a hugger – unseemly, for a magister to show any sort of emotion other than smug triumph, and it brings you within easy stabbing reach, he remembers telling Gal that once – but Dorian feels arms around him, and suddenly all he can smell is perfume and the faint tang of recently-cast spells. “But you’re better than this. You know it, and so did Alexius, before that bloody cult got to him. Don’t force me to pick you up off the floor again.” She pats him on the arm and then withdraws. “So rather than drinking yourself to death, how about you help me to put those bastards in the ground?”

He looks at her, and manages, “See, this is why I’m so fond of you.”

Her smile is like a knife. “I know. You should be.”

 He manages two days of dealing with it. Somehow, after the initial pain, he manages to keep from drowning himself in a bottle, remembering his mother’s drunken laughter and “All this heartbreak over some soporati?” He remembers, too, the fact that he’s here for a reason. If he can’t be of use to the Inquisition, he might as well be across an ocean, pretending to be a decent magister. At least then he might not be too aware of the man he’s avoiding, only rooms away, and the constant, teeth-gritting ache somewhere under his sternum.

He’s making his way across the grounds in the shadow of the battlements, watching sunset approaching and turning the stones of Skyhold orange and thinking how much he’s missed the sight, when he hears the sounds of steel, and there’s a grunt. Then a flash of green. He can’t help looking at that, and sees… ah.

Gal’s arm is wreathed in that green light, and for one dreadful moment Dorian can’t help but think of him staggering out of the Eluvian, half-dead but for magic and will, disintegrating in front of them – but he knows this must be different, and so he looks again before the panic can rise. It’s magic, this green, and it feels different from the rampant chaos of the Mark near the end. There’s a shine under the gauntlet, one that certainly isn’t skin. Dagna’s work, perhaps.

Gal weighs his sword in that metal hand, then turns it to adjust his grip. He slams his shield into the training dummy and it tears half out of the ground. He nods approvingly at that, much to Dorian’s disbelief, and then follows it up with a series of savage slashes, teeth gritted, with a low snarl.

When the dummy must be well and truly defeated, Gal steps back, panting, and wipes at his brow. There’s a moment where he tenses, pausing, at the coldness of metal. Then he shakes his head, hissing a frustrated outbreath, chest heaving. He shucks the shield, unstrapping it with those new fingers. He’s fast, dextrous, as if he’s used to the way they handle; this development must have happened some time ago, and Dorian… missed it. Of course.

Gal puts the shield aside and then does the same with his sword. Then he’s unlacing his gambeson, shrugging it off, and Dorian knows he should be moving, at best, or at least saying something suitably derisory to let him know he’s here –

Gal’s shirt hits the ground, and Dorian’s words die in his throat.

Surely he should be used to this. He spent years with the man. And yet he tilts his head, looking at the short hair, the metal below Gal’s elbow, and pauses. There are new scars; he didn’t see them all when – well. Perhaps with a decent mage at his back, Gal wouldn’t have gained them; what are they teaching these idiots in the Inquisition? Gal rolls his shoulders, running a hand through sweat-soaked hair that spikes under his fingers, and Dorian swallows, trying not to pay attention to muscle and barely-hidden strength, and skin he knows nearly as well as his own.

Gal glances around him, and Dorian catches sight of smudged black paint around his eyes, on the bridge of his nose. He’ll have spent the past, oh, hour or so fighting like a wild thing, probably, throwing himself against limits in the name of preparation because if he isn’t strong enough, fast enough, someone will die – someone that isn’t him, because oh, it’s fine him throwing himself at death, better him than anyone else, because he’s just a shield. Dorian remembers wiping away paint, threading black-stained fingers into that hair and unbinding it, as he listened to Gal say these things. Remembers waiting there, nose against Gal’s cheek, hand wrapping around Gal’s and pulling, making him stay. I’d notice if you got yourself killed. Try not to. Or at least do it with me about, so I can exact my dramatic revenge. He remembers Gal inhaling and sagging against him, still exhausted; Dorian putting hands on Gal’s hips, ignoring sweaty skin, and steadying him. Letting him rest for a while, for once in this entire bloody mess. But… like I said, do try not to, amatus.

Dorian thought he’d never see this man again.  And he turns, all but fleeing – or rather, creeping away as quietly as possible, because no matter how much he’d like to turn and run, it might raise some questions, such as, Why were you watching me creepily from the shadows after rejecting me?

He makes it to his quarters, and it’s a relief to close the door behind him.

Of course, that relief only lasts a moment before said door is knocked on, and he glares at it. He throws it open. “What are you - ?”

Marius shrinks a little at his expression, and he again has to wonder when it became customary to appoint magisters who are barely out of short trousers. (Well, that’s hardly fair. A few sudden family deaths – the convenient for other magisters sort, not the convenient for him sort - and Marius got shoved into the position. That, Dorian understands.) “I… it’s about tomorrow.”

“The raid?” he tries.

Marius nods. “I… I know we’ve taken on Venatori before, but I’ve never done it with the Inquisition.”

“You’ve trained with them?” “I have, I just… Even the mages, their techniques are so different from ours. Older, some of them, but… efficient. It’s kind of… fascinating.” Marius grins from under that mop of curly dark hair.

Dorian can’t help but mirror it, slightly. “Yes, I remember saying the same. Before I realised they didn’t even know how to salt bacon.”

Marius gives him a wide-eyed stare, and then barks a laugh.

“But remember to deal with the blighted lyrium and you’ll be fine. You’re a strong mage. You also don’t let your ego get in the way. A rarity in Tevinter, and certainly never something I’ve mastered. Now please tell me you aren’t disturbing me this late just to panic. Not that I was doing anything particularly interesting, but it’s the principle of the thing.”

“No. I was just asking for advice. You know about working with the Inquisitor, I thought – “ Marius ducks his head. “Um.”

Dorian has a feeling he knows where this is going. “Ah. So that’s what this is about.”

Marius looks up, wide-eyed. “Not that I – I didn’t mean - !”

“Of course you didn’t. I’d be very careful what you say next, if I were you.”

Marius darts looks around them, as if this is some bloody ballroom back in Minrathous and there are a thousand ears listening for the terrible scandal of deviance, it’s the Pavus boy again isn’t it, and then says, “I’m sorry. I only meant to ask if there was some way to show him my worth as a mage. I don’t – it might be that southern standards are different. I was afraid of getting something wrong.”

“It... was?” Kaffas.

“But if you… were you… with him?”

Dorian sighs. “I wouldn’t believe everything you hear from the Inquisition rumour mill, Marius. And you won’t have to work particularly hard to impress him – give him half a light show and he’ll want to recruit you. Now get some sleep, unless you want to sleepwalk through the raid.”

“I… Sorry. Thank you.” Marius nods, and turns to leave with a low whisper of robes.

Dorian closes the door with a touch more finality, and wonders if he’s that bloody obvious. He never used to be.

He’s halfway through sorting The Qarinus Histories the next day, when he pauses. Ah. Finally. He doesn’t look when he hears those familiar footsteps; even out of armour, he knows them as well as his own. Gal will never be stealthy, but he’s surprisingly quiet for such a large man. 

“I don’t like playing games,” is what Gal says, after a moment.

“Neither do I,” Dorian responds, and looks back to the bookshelves.

“Then why?” Gal’s voice is sharp, but there’s a shake to it that Dorian can only spot due to paying far too much attention. “You could have had anyone else. You could have done anything else.”

“Because I…” Dorian shrugs, and moves on to the Ancient Geography section. “I suppose I wanted to feel something.”

“And what, you couldn’t do that in Tevinter?” Gal’s fighting to keep his voice level, so that it won’t end up the mumble he gets when he’s hurt; it’s obvious, if you’re someone who spent years listening to him.

A moment passes, until Dorian finally says, “No. I couldn’t.”

Gal frowns. “What?”

“No time, amongst other things.” Dorian scrubs a hand across his face. “Funnily enough, having the Qunari on our doorstep and half the country doing its best to plunge us into civil war is rather a mood-killer.”

Gal frowns. “You mean you haven’t - “

Dorian’s shoulders tense. “There hasn’t been anyone since…” He tilts his head, but still doesn’t look at Gal. “Well.” He sighs. 

He hadn’t wanted to, not truly. He could have gone to one of many houses of ill repute, could have taken the offers implied in some of his colleagues’ sly glances, but somehow he… hadn’t the heart. It hadn’t been the same. Bitterness rises in his throat at the thought. 

He can’t help himself, then, and he’s not proud of it: “I’m sure you didn’t waste any time after I left.”

He hears Gal swallow. “I didn’t.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No-one. Not since you.” Gal’s eyes are pained, and then he looks away.

Dorian feels something like his heart seize. “The first time or the last?” he says, and it’s too harsh to be a joke. He sighs. “No, I understand. Even if things are easier down south, I’m sure disbanding an Inquisition doesn’t leave much time for more enjoyable pursuits.”

“Dorian - ”

“Not that that’s any of my concern, of course. It hasn’t been for some time.”

“Just…” He hears Gal’s exhale of frustration. “Listen to me. Please.” Gal says quietly, “You left something in my quarters.”

Dorian tries not to grit his teeth. He knows. It was a stupid mistake - one of several that night. He remembers the panic when he realised, and he remembers his grim resignation at the thought of having to ask for it back. He plays dumb anyway. “The last shreds of my dignity?”

“Your birthright.”                                                                    

He sighs. “Ah. That.”

Gal frowns at the floor, then reaches into a pocket and pulls out the amulet. “Thought you might want it back.” He holds it out.

Dorian takes it. Gal’s hand is warm, and gentle. Dorian realises too late that his fingers are lingering, somewhat.

“I’m sorry,” Gal says.

“I know,” Dorian replies, his voice too quiet. “I – “

“Inquisitor!”

Gal turns, rapidly removing his hand, and though he doesn’t curse, For fuck’s sake is written so clearly across his face that Dorian wants to laugh, even while his heart is in his throat. “Something wrong?” Gal asks.

“Party for the Storm Coast’s gathered, ser,” the messenger says. “They’re asking for you.”

Gal nods. “Thank you. I’ll be there in two minutes.”

She nods, too, and Dorian swears she shoots him an apologetic look over Gal’s shoulder as she turns and leaves.

“Dorian – “ Gal starts.

“No, please, don’t let me keep you.” When Gal opens his mouth again, Dorian says firmly, “Now is not the time. You have Venatori to slaughter, and I have research to attend to.”

Gal swallows, and then nods, turning and striding away.

Dorian wonders what he was going to say, and then decides it was probably safer not to hear it.

 “I told him he was an idiot.”

Dorian sighs. Dammit. They'd made it nearly fifteen minutes, too. “Sera - “ At least she doesn’t know how he spent that ill-advised night. She’d never let him hear the end of it.

“The minute I heard, I said, ‘Screwed that one up well and good, but you can still fix it.’”

Dorian rubs his forehead and stares into his tankard. “Can we not? It’s not as if he wanted to fix anything, anyhow.”

“Yeah, right. That’s why he spent a year moping and dragging himself round the castle like someone’d just shot him in the arse.”

Dorian pauses, and just looks at her, considering that. “You do have a way with words,” he manages.

“More like he did. He kept muttering stuff about how he’d just get you killed, stuff about bleeding out in gutters, yada yada yada…” She waves her hands in a scare-mongering sort of way.

Dorian raises a brow, uncertain whether to be amused or offended or… something else. “He knows I’ve probably killed more Venatori than he has?”

“Sure. But it’s not about you looking after yourself, we know you can do that. He knows that. It’s about him being stupid and scared.” She winces and glugs her ale. “Nobles always are. Even the good ones.”

“...Thank you,” Dorian manages, dryly.

“Yeah, well, you’re stupid too. You’re just different stupid.”

He barks a laugh, though there’s little humour in it. “You’re not wrong there.” Taking a mouthful of ale, he says thoughtfully, “I’ve missed your wisdom.”

“I thought you were swanning around with your magey friends and getting new capes and killing people. I didn’t think you needed any wisdom.” She sounds more bitter than she perhaps intends to.

“Now you know that’s not true. I’ve missed all of you. I’ve missed this…” He waves a hand. “Rustic backwater charm and the scent of horseshit in the morning.” Sighing, he admits, “I’ve missed… everything.”

She picks at her nails, not looking at him. “Guessing he’s included in that everything.”

He exhales, glaring at her and then at the wall of the tavern. “Yes. But I never pretended otherwise.” He takes a heavy swig from his tankard.

“You know...” She sighs. “You know what, nah, not touching that. Tried it with him and he didn't listen.”

With a snort, he says, “I think the Maker’s return is more likely than Gal not being stubborn.” He sighs, and looks around them. Listens around them, too. “Was it always so… quiet here? I don’t think so, but I might just be too used to Minrathous, where people would pickpocket you as soon as look at you. Where is everybody? I thought they’d have left, if the Inquisition was to be dissolved, at least publically. An empty keep would make more sense than… whatever this is. This half-compromise that’s like… waddling round with your breeches round your knees because you can’t decide whether the trousers are better on or off. Indignity and embarrassment for everyone, and not knowing how to address it at parties.”

She shrugs. “It’s nearly empty. Getting emptier.” She narrows her eyes at him. “And don’t say it, cause I did talk to him. Said, ‘Oi, you, big hairy noble Jenny, come with me and we can piss up some parties, yeah?’ And he went on about the Venatori and duty or something. So now he’s sat on his arse moping.”

“As usual,” Dorian mutters.

“But why are we talking about him? Thought you were talking about that time someone tried to kill you with jelly.”

“No, Sera, that was…” He ends up laughing, much as he tries to contain it. “That was a sorbet.”

“A what?” She squints at him.

“No? That’s not a thing here?” He sighs; he’d forgotten how horrifically uncultured it was down south. “Well, you get some ice magic and some sugared, pulped fruit, and in his case, quite a lot of poison…”

 “Kaffas. Imbecila!” He all but throws the book outside, ignoring the others’ startled looks – they’re not used to his… somewhat unique style of researching, the way the Skyhold librarians were – and reconsiders, again. The best resource on ancient Tevene he’s found – and this is the ancient stuff, the sort he’s only ever had to learn pieces of for spellwork, because who in their right mind would go for a form this archaic except for reasons of snobbery and secrecy? – is… Ah.

He realises that he shouldn’t still be thinking of it as “Gal’s library,” considering he half-lived down there himself, but he is. It was the place he could always find his – Gal squinting at some new theory or plan of action, dragging out long-forgotten textbooks and memoirs, coughing from the dust but being so thrilled at some new piece of knowledge or obscure trivia that he didn’t care. The way his eyes would light up.

Dorian tries to shake that thought aside and makes his way to the stairs, descending them and making his way over the balcony with an interrupt me and be immolated sort of stride, tome under his arm.

He all but runs down to the second library, opening the door and… pausing. There are a few books on the desk, the piles far more organised than his usual haphazard research structures. That seems a decent place to start; probably better than searching the entire collection first.

He puts the Regulus on the chair and then pulls books towards him, putting them aside as soon as he sees that they’re not what he wants – blood magic, blood magic, the making of grenades, a history of Minrathous, bloody Orlesian gourmet…

He looks up, frowning, at the tingle of faint magic, the hairs on the back of his neck raising and a hum beginning at his fingertips. It feels like someone whispering close by, not quite audible. Very close by, in fact.

He squints, moving the last book, and then can’t help himself – he opens the drawer underneath the desk.

And there, next to quills and inks, he sees the sending crystal.

There’s barely any dust on it, and as he picks it up, he notices faint marks, smudges across the finish. Almost as if – He runs an absentminded thumb over its faces. Yes. As if someone has done precisely that, several times. Or as if they’ve stood here and considered using it, before deciding not to.

He stares at it, weighing it in his palm. Why didn’t you, you bloody idiot?

He holds it, feeling the enchantment flowing through it, and tries not to be surprised. Here he thought Gal would have sold it, or left it for the enchantment to fade, untouched. He thinks of the other one of the pair, still with his things, tucked away under wrapped staff blades and a few lyrium potions. He wonders how often Gal sat here and almost spoke to him. 

“Dorian!”

It’s the lack of a title and the breathlessness in Josephine’s voice that make him turn quickly, his heart sinking. “This isn’t good news, is it?”

“They’ve taken him.”

“Who?”  But there’s a coldness in his chest, one growing rapidly, and he knows. He knows.

“The Venatori. They have Galahad.”

[chriskarrtravelblog]

5 amazing places to discover on the Isle of Wight

PALM TREES, WHITE BEACHES AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY ATTRACTIONS ALL COMBINE TO CREATE AN IDYLLIC ISLAND PARADISE JUST ACROSS THE SOLENT.

In 400BC, the Celts gave the island its name which means ‘place of division’ because it divides the Solent as it flows out into the English Channel. Today, its unique placement to the south of Britain and surrounded by the sea makes it one of the most popular holiday destinations in the UK.

It’s ideal for families searching for a seaside holiday, couples after a walking retreat or big groups looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion. We have a range of fantastic Isle of Wight holidays for you to peruse; keep reading for five of the most amazing places on the Isle of Wight.

Walk along one of the island’s best beaches: Freshwater Bay

While on a holiday to the Isle of Wight, many people automatically head to Shanklin or Ventnor, both beautiful beaches, leaving the peaceful sandy coast of Freshwater seriously underrated. This hidden gem is perfect for families and groups looking for a seaside location where they can spend their time on the island.

A mixture of grey flint and chalk pebbles covers much of the beach while there is sand below the low water mark and some sandy places to sit. Go rock pooling here or explore the caves that were once used by smugglers – you can walk inside at low tide but be careful not to get cut off by the sea. The best way to see these caves is by kayaking along the coast.

You can also try surfing or paddle boarding; water sports are popular in the bay. When you are done, eat at the beach cafe or head to one of the cosy pubs.

Stay in: Little Halt Cottage, Freshwater (sleeps 10)

This quaint cottage offers a wonderful getaway for a large group. It’s less than a mile from Freshwater Bay beach so you can spend every day of your holiday down by the waves.

As it’s set in the tranquil western part of the island, it’s a wonderful spot for a private gathering, whether that’s an anniversary, birthday or simply the chance to have a get-together with friends. It would also suit a big family plus one dog as there’s a secluded garden to run around in, as well as a patio area and outdoor furniture for dining alfresco.

Visit the iconic landmark: The Needles

If this is your first time on a holiday to the Isle of Wight, you mustn’t miss a trip to The Needles. Take a coastal walk across the beautiful Tennyson Down, a landscape that inspired the poet himself. The Tennyson Monument is a great pitstop; take a picnic and sit at the bottom of the huge granite cross while breathing in the salty sea air and taking in those spectacular coastal views.

Follow the National Trust’s Meander with Maud walk which takes you past historic sites and even a tearoom where you can grab a coffee and cake. Keep an eye out for rabbits and wildflowers as you set out across the Downs and when you reach the wonderful vantage point that is the Tennyson Monument, you might even be able to spot yachts out to sea.

If you don’t want to walk, you can even take the Needles Breezer bus from Yarmouth, saving you valuable time which could instead be spent lying on a beach. For those more comfortable on two wheels, there’s also a cycle route to The Needles Battery.

Stay in: Milton Stables, Freshwater Bay (sleeps 4)

The perfect family-friendly escape, this cottage is 3 miles away from The Needles, allowing you the opportunity to enjoy an hour or so’s walk directly from the property itself. It is also less than half a mile’s walk from Freshwater Bay making it a great location for a beach holiday.

An open-plan kitchen/diner with French doors is the hub of the house. It’s a cosy and welcoming holiday home with touches of colour and there’s a delightful outdoor patio area for lunches in the sunshine. You’re welcome to bring one dog along with you and there are plenty of walks across the Downs and along the coast that you and the canine companion can enjoy.

Discover the secrets of an Elizabethan fortress: Carisbrooke Castle

Existing on the Isle of Wight for over 1,000 years, Carisbrooke Castle is a magnificent fortress and is now open for the public to explore. Famously the prison for the deposed Charles I, you can see the well-preserved castle and find the room where he was held and attempted to escape. Kids will love meeting the resident donkeys who live here and have drawn up water in the well-house for hundreds of years.

The Princess Beatrice Garden was opened by Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter as a memorial museum to her husband. Designed by TV gardener Chris Beardshaw, the garden still evokes the old Edwardian style and has plants and colours that pay homage to Princess Beatrice. There are water features, an orchard and battlement for you to enjoy.

While here, you’ll also come across the Carisbrooke Castle Museum, chapel and tearoom – learn more about its fascinating history before enjoying a well-deserved lunch break.

Stay in: Virginia Cottage, Carisbrooke (sleeps 6)

A picture-perfect family retreat, this beautiful cottage is just half a mile from the castle, making it an easy day out, and there are plenty of restaurants, shops and parks for you to explore.

It’s a Grade II-listed property due to the beautiful old features found throughout, including wooden beams, deep-set windows and characterful feature fireplaces. Sympathetic design has led to a warm and welcoming space full of soft furnishings so you can enjoy a cosy and relaxed holiday getaway. Fire up the wood burner in the lounge and everyone can curl up together around a crackling fire. The south-facing garden includes furniture and a BBQ for you to dine outside on a sunny day or during the evening under the stars.

Have fun at the UK’s oldest amusement park: Blackgang Chine

This place opened in the 1840s and is still going strong. Calling itself the ‘Land of Imagination’, this amusement park has tonnes of fun rides and attractions to keep little ones and big kids entertained all day.

There’s a dinosaur park, fairyland and pirate cove, while rides include the Cliffhanger roller coaster and the Waterforce slides. Let the kids enter Rampus Mansion, where goblins and trolls have taken over or enter The Musical Pet Shop where animatronic animals sing on command. There’s a hall of mirrors and a Crooked House that will throw you off balance. Discover a whole world of fascinating and magical intrigues at Blackgang Chine.

Stay in: Park Lodge, Ventnor (sleeps 6)

A very pretty cottage set in the centre of the Ventnor Park area, 6 miles from the fantastic Blackgang Chine.

This charming Swiss-style lodge was built in 1881 and still retains some of that old-world style. The long open-plan kitchen/diner offers two tables and plenty of space for the group to get together. Big windows let in lots of light while the lounge is a cosy space for everyone to gather together. The holiday home would be great for a family on a escape to the Isle of Wight as the parkland just outside the door provides plenty of space for running around and playing games. There’s even an 18-hole putting green nearby and it’s less than a mile down to the shingle and sand at Ventnor Beach.

See the boats head out to sea: Ryde Harbour

The seaside tow of Ryde is a great place for a holiday escape with its many attractions and miles of sandy beach. While here, we’d recommend a stroll along the harbour, watching the boats come and go or sitting on the front while the sun sets. It’s the perfect way to wind down while on a break to this scenic island.

While staying in town, there are a whole range of activities to keep you busy during the day, with Quarr Abbey, a bus museum, go-karting and a vineyard to visit as well as the opportunity to get involved in plenty of watersports.

After a busy day, why not head to a waterfront restaurant? There are delightful eateries by the harbour where you can enjoy spending your evenings.

Stay in: Iona Cottage, Seaview (sleeps 8)

From this pretty seaside holiday escape, it’s just 3 miles into Ryde and as it’s located to the eastern side of the town, the cottage is within easy reach of southern Isle of Wight attractions that include Bembridge Fort (7 miles) and the Isle of Wight Zoo at Sandown (6 miles), as well as beautiful shingle and sand beaches.

A stylish lounge, lit by a skylight and French doors, offers a wonderfully central space in this seaside escape. There’s a second lounge for you to enjoy while a quirky table and chairs set creates a beautiful centrepiece to this open-plan space. A BBQ and furniture can be found outside where a lawned garden and terrace awaits.

Which of these amazing places will you visit during your holiday to the Isle of Wight? With beautiful beaches and the UK’s oldest amusement park, there’s a tonne of excellent attractions and natural spots for you to seek out.

  The post 5 amazing places to discover on the Isle of Wight appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/inspiration/5-amazing-places-to-discover-on-the-isle-of-wight/

source https://coragemonik.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/5-amazing-places-to-discover-on-the-isle-of-wight/

[asylum-miniatures]

Session 25 - Deeper Darkness

This week Vex couldn’t unfortunately make it, so this session we are playing without her and vex is just following as an observer.  I guess the adventures of Vex and Ozzy Ozbear (she named the bear Ozzy Ozbear) will have to be put on hold for now.

Part 1, a possible lead

Since last week we had all been getting exited about our plans.  The GM decides to throw a spanner in the works.  We get approached by Ninja-san and a new guy.  He’s quickly introduced as the royal spymaster Lennard.  At this point, I’m actually missing “Noun Verb-Noun” naming convention.  He explains that he’s had reports of something happening in the ruins outside of town.  He’s already sent some of his own people to investigate, but they haven’t returned so something is really wrong there.  We all start asking questions about the mission, but I feel my questions about “how important are these ruins” – AKA just have draspher blow them up – were the most pertinent.  He explains that he thinks they might have something to do with the coup, so he wants us to go and investigate, hopefully finding more leads for us to go on.

We head back to the barracks to gear up and roll initiative.  We decide the best plan is to get close then recharge using telons swift sleep speel.  We head out of the city towards the location marked and review what we know.  Four different people went in independently: a fighter named Talgen, the Wizard Aharwyn, a paladin called Sir Bradford and a ranger called Karakas.  Over the last four days they were all sent to investigate, and none of them have been heard from since.  We head east out of the city and eventually start finding large pillars by the roadside just as it goes by a large Ravine.  Its pretty big, several miles long, 30’ wide and so deep we can’t see the bottom in the darkness.  Its along here that the map points us, or to be more accurate its down IN the Ravine. We initially send Mee down to investigate and he rolls a natural 20.   We quickly ask draspher if he needs a light spell, he asures us that he has dancing lights, he’ll be fine.  We then argue about how exactly dancing lights works and how far it can go, but it’s all rendered mute when he gets down there and draspher points out he has darkvision:

Jaune – then why did he need dancing lights?

Mee spots a knotted rope going down to a sandy platform 80’.  While the rest of us argue how to get down (draspher volunteers to go down first, Ocelot suggests the people with cat boots jump down and I still say we bomb the canyon and bury them) Yolan notices the pillars have lots of graffiti.  A quick check he realises that there dwarfen runes, all giving general warnings to stay away.

Part 2, down into the dark

We finally decide to go down the rope, first Telon, then me, then draspher, then Ocelot and finally Yolan (he stayed behind to keep casting guidance on everyone to help with climb rolls).  Luckily, we all make it down safely.  Looking around we notice the bones of small animals dotted around the place.  We quickly spot a set of stairs going down in the dark.  Ocelot picks up a rock and, after getting someone to cast a light spell on it, he tosses it down.  It makes a few bounces before going down a crack but its enough to see several staircases going back and fourth down the side of the ravine. Before our arguments about the best course of action gets too far Telon spots footprints going down the stairs in the sand and goes down himself.  We go down in the order of Telon first, then Myself, draspher, Ocelot then Yolan at the back.  

As we go down, we start hearing a squeaking/hissing sound coming from somewhere around us.  Suddenly a shape leaps out at Telon at front, one comes out of the wall by me and draspher and a third from behind attacking Yolan.  Yolan immediately identifies it as a dire rat.  Not that it really matters, one activation of a destruction judgement and a swing of 11 damage leaves it a smear on the floor.  draspher follows up by firing an adhesive spittle and rolling a one.  I somehow manage to dodge out of the way on a narrow staircase.  Fortunately, Ocelot blows the rat away before draspher can try to kill me by “helping” more.  Telon up front shows off why he’s the group muscle by smacking a rat with a vital strike for 17 damage.  So much for that encounter.

With that done, I get to the most vital job.  Slapping draspher for nearly hitting me with his spells AGAIN.  He responds with a joke about being thankful he didn’t throw out a burning hands or fireball.  I tell him that if he pulls that crap again, I’ll throw him over the edge, and for good measure take the scroll of feather fall he’s been boasting about first.  We go down the stairs, and Yolan ends up slipping up on the loose sand and stumbles onto the guard rail.  Unfortunately, an ageing guard rail can’t hold up a figure wearing plate mail and it snaps like matchsticks.  Ocelot makes a risky jump down to grab on him, but he just can’t hold his weight and Yolan drops.  This means he has a first row seat to seeing Yolan tumble down to the bottom, taking 16 points of damage:

Ocelot – are you ok?

Telon – I’ve had worse, but this is not my proudest moment

Looking out, Ocelot catches sight of a steeple off in the darkness, and the vague shape of some kind of fortress dug into the rock.  Seeing this, he scrambles down the rest of the stairs to catch up with Yolan. Telon jumps straight down with his boots of the cat, while I combine my own set with a graceful leap to only take 1 damage from the fall, and draspher decides against taking the tricky climb to instead dimensional door straight to the bottom.

Now we are all down the bottom, which is to say Ocelot is actually on the staircase while the rest of us have landed behind it, we take a look around.  We are in a small courtyard just outside of some kind of Battlement.  Judging by the look of it, it must have been above ground on the surface before sinking to the bottom of the ravine.  Telon decides to try and bypass our usual arguing and goes straight for the door.  He is rewarded for his forward thinking attitude with a trap door at his feet, falling 20’ into a pit for a grand total of 2 damage.  Pulling himself up, he checked out his new surroundings.  At least he’s not alone down there, he’s got a couple of skelitons and a dead goblin with him to keep him company.  I quickly go help him out with a rope, and Yolan comes to actually pull him out, on account of my abysmal strength.  Of all people, its draspher who checks for and realises that theirs’s something moving down there (aside from Telon).  Telon turns just in time to see a dwarf skeleton moving slightly.  Suddenly something springs at him from his eye socketed, ANOTHER RAT!  Too bad for it, Telon is still in metal armour, and his sneak attack does nothing.  Luckily Ocelot runs over and opens fire.  Unluckily his gun immediately jams on the first shot.  It was all for nothing anyway as Telon literally just smushes it with 15 damage against a wall.  I disable the trapdoor, keeping it open while the others keep watch.  Ocelot hears something in the rubble surrounding them.  Looking closer, he can see that there are multiple rats moving throught the rubble, we might want to leave this area at some point soon.  Yolan finally finish pulling Ocelot up, and a quick examination of the trapdoor hole shows a small ledge we can use to get into the door.  While Ocleot fixes his gun, I disable the door and back off, as drasher uses mage hand to open the door.  

Part 3, the investigation begins

We move in to see the scene of a fight long past.  Three goblin bodies lining the walls, one of them pinned to the wall with a spear.  Telon leaps the pit and takes a closer look.  The room has two doors leading further in, and a fourth body that was previously out of sight.  He takes a quick look at the spear impaled one and realises the spear was thrown with incredible strength.  I jump over the pit as well (not one to be shown up) and I quickly realise, with what the GM calls my “ninja-senses” I realise there is a hidden door in the wall, which I immediately investigate.  Yolan goes across the pit on the safe part as “he’s happy with the size of HIS penis”, and goes to the right door, finding a blank corridor.

draspher announces “Mee and I have a plan”.  This immediately upsets Telon – not the fact he has a plan, he’s upset that that sentence is grammatically correct, and it really shouldn’t be.  He then comes out from under the stairs, shocking the GM that he never moved out from under there and laments he hadn’t realised as he would have had him be eaten by rats.  He immediately tries to pull the spear out of the wall with mage hand, but even with Mee helping he fails to move it.  Ocelot goes in and prepares to shoot anything coming into the room from the outside.  He then reluctantly adds a stipulation that he won’t shoot draspher (I think a part of all of us was disappointed he added that).  Telon goes to the other door and checks it out. He sees a corridor with another door down with a stone dragon statue next to it, and the corridor is blocked off by collapsed with rubble.  

I check the secret door, and realise the thing has a needle trap hooked up to the keyhole.  I disable the trap and I realise that the poison on said needle has long evaporated.  I open the door, and see the skeletons of three archers.  Three skeletons that don’t stay still, but instead jump up and attack me.  The first lashes at me but doesn’t stand a chance of hitting me.  The second tries to grab me, but I dive back just in time.  Ocelot immediately see me dive back and puts a bullet in the new head that appears, hitting for 13 damage and dropping it as his head turns mostly to dust.  Yolan moves up to the gap I left, and smashes one with his Morning star for 15 damage, leaving him without a head and dropping him instantly.  draspher, like any good party member should, ignores the fight and starts casting identify to figure out what the spear is.  Ocelot decides to secure the prerminter and closes the door behind draspher, just in time as he hears screeching and scuttling approaching the door.

Telon goes down the corridor he found (he’s deaf, so he can’t hear us.  That’s his reason/excuse for not coming) and examines the door and statue.  He finds a keyhole in its mouth, figuring that must be the mechanism that opens the door.  He’s so intent on examining it, he doesn’t notice the creature attacking him from behind. His first realisation is the feeling of teeth breaking on his iron boots.  He turns to see the rat nursing its jaw.  He just gives it a boot, smearing its guts over his boot and the wall.

Meanwhile I, like any good leader, immediately retreat from the attacking skeletons, and go behind my personal meat shield aka draspher.  This is so that I am not between the spellcaster and the things that need to die (or at least that’s my excuse on the official report, truth is I don’t want to get hit, and by this point I honestly don’t care what happens to him).  Yolan moves further into the room and quickly identifies that it as a skeleton, and tires to kill it with a bane strike.  Unfortunately, with a roll of 1 he misses and gets his Morningstar stuck in the wall.   Unfortunately, said meat shield decides to just go and help Telon with the door, figuring we’ve got the skeletons covered.  Ocelot moves in for an angle on the skeleton that’s attacking Yolan, and he gets to a point where he has a 50/50 chance to hit.  He manages to hit it for 7 damage killing it.  He then follows on his highest priority, and yells to Yolan “any decent loot?”.  Yolan checks, and with a natural 20 he finds 16 silver pieces, 9 gold pieces and each skeleton had a +1 crossbow bolt each.  He gathers it up and then goes to put an alarm on the door, just in case something tries to get in.

Part 4, advancing to future failure

As there finishing off, I decide to check out the other corridor.  Since it’s a big table, I make the mistake of letting Yolan move my mini.  This is the last time I make this mistake.  I go down, lighting a torch to light the way.  I get about half way down the corridor before I walk into something that smothers my torch.  It then eats my torch.  It then eats my arm.  It then eats me.

Luckily, while Yolan retrieves his mace, he notices the light in my corridor disappear, and goes to investigate.  He notices a shape making its way down the entire hallway, and a blurry shape in the middle.  With a chill down his back, he realises what it is, and shouts out “A cube just ate Jaune”.  Yup, I walked into a transparent gelatinous cube.  At the same time, draspher hears a noise from that direction, and comments to Telon:

draspher – I hear something, should we investigate?

Telon – you can, I have a key to find

So draspher runs out of the corridor, through the room and next to Yolan. As we point out, he’s managed to move into range to be eaten next turn.  Ocelot contributes by moving into range and tossing a grenade into the slime. Ocelot moves up, throws grenade in, uses precise blast to exclude me from getting hit.  He deals 9 damage to it, but it’s not enough to free me.  Meanwhile I fail my fortitude save and take 10 damage.  I am also paralysed for the next 7 rounds.

The slime notices more people come into to corridor and decides to eat them too.  It surges down the corridor, pushing Yolan and draspher out of the room by it’s sheer mass.  It then starts forcing it’s way through the doorframe to try and slam draspher.  Telon feels the bomb detonation and the slime impacting the doorway, so comes out the corridor to yell at the three stooge’s  

Telon – what are you idiots doing?

Ocelot – [signs at telon] something is eating jaune

This is enough to motivate him to help, so he goes over to pull draspher out of the way of the slime.  Draspher rolls a natural 20 to realise what he’s doing, disappointed as he was planning on burning me out with burning hands.  Once again, I am so thankful that Telon is here.  I can’t do anything except for check for traps in the slime.  The only thing I can to is argue what’s getting damaged by the acid I’m stuck in.  In the end we decide the only thing that’s really going to be damaged are my clothes.

Yolan yells out “Jaune, close your eyes.  I hear him, but am still completely paralysed, so I can’t even close them.  Yolan blasts the slime with a searing light spell for 18 damage.  Its now damaged to the point its no longer a cube.  Draspher follows up with a burning hands spell, burning it for 16 damage, and Ocelot tries to let loose, but it misfires, then has a near misfire which would have caused it explode.  Fortunately, its enough damage to cause it to fall apart.  The good news is that I’m free, the bad news is now I’m face down in a puddle of slime.

Part 5, water way to go

Now that’s the dangers over, Telon’s going back to figuring out the door.  He tells Yolan to deal with the healing while he looks for the key, with no luck.  I still can’t move, and takes another 10 damage from the acid I’m covered in.  Yolan pulls me out of the puddle, then gets to casting restoration which manages to remove my paralysis, while draspher cleans me up and Ocelot scoops up some of the slime to experiment with.  Once I’m up Telon yells at me to unlock the door for him and I go far more cautious about the dangers of this place, so I drag Yolan with as a bodyguard.  I’m still shaken from the slime, so I end up rolling a natural 1.  I decide it’s safer to just take my time and take 20.  

While I struggle with the lock Ocelot fixes his gun.  I also take a second to realise my “ninja-blade” is showing so I use my sleeves of many garments to get a change of clothes.  After much trying I find it’s no good, I can’t break the arcane lock, we’re going to need the key.   Ocelot gets bored of this nonsense with the door and goes down the slime-freed corridor and finds the first door on the left, choosing to just kick it down.  Yolan leave me (Traitor, your supposed to be my bodyguard) to help Ocelot, checking the door on the right to find just an empty room.  

After failing to kick it down, Ocelot takes note of the door.  Like the previous door, it has a stone relief but this one is shaped like some kind of dragon/fish creature.  He calls me over, and I try my luck with this door, finding it easy to crack.  Howerver, after my experience with the slime I back off and tell Yolan to open the door as I’m not risking it.  He does and finds a large metal keg, with pipes going up into the ceiling from it.  Ocelot takes a look as well and believes it must be the old castle water reserve.   Checking it over he taps it and finds its still full of water, and the top is blocked by some kind of metal bung that’s so rusted over he might be able to break it open.  He asks Yolan for help, but he just passes the buck onto Telon.

With a single swing, Telon smacks the bung apart with the butt of his weapon, and water spills everywhere.  Telon quickly checks the water flowing everywhere, but its not poisioned.  In face its in pretty good quality considering how long it must have been in there.  The pipe starts making an awful rattling as the water pours out, way too loud to just be water pouring out, even as the force increases.  Soon the entire corridor is filled with water and we have difficulty moving through it.  Then a creature makes its way out of the pipe.  

With an angry scream it fires a cone of acid, hitting everyone (except for me hiding well out of the way in the corridor), Ocelot dodging out of the way for half damage taking 4 while everyone else takes 9.  I take a look and decide the corridor is too crowded for me to go down, so I leave it to the others for now.  Yolan realises it’s a water Mephit and shouts out a warning that only magic can affect it.  draspher casts haste on us to speed us up, and Yolan uses another searing light, hitting it for 17 damage.  Telon then gets his turn, and slashes it twice beheading the creature with 25 damage and is quickly disintegrates into water, seeing it leave behind 5 small sapphire he grabs.  This also causes the water to stop flowing like crazy.  Yolan heals up telon while Ocleot checks out the empty room finding nothing.  He does realise it would be a perfect place to set up a camp for the night.  We decide to leave it there before taking the stairs up to the next level.

Embarrassments to the guild – 5, the bear, draspher getting mugged, draspher growing antlers in a magic school, meeting the king (2), falling down a pit,   Jaunes brave advances towards future victory – 11, when jess attacked in the night, the barn, the demons, the fear from Anubis and running from the dust jackal, the fight in the Whitewater compound both at the start and at the end (2), escaping the killer clockwork to talk down lady Ezrisha, at the end of the first training mission, going to get the guards rather than help with the poisoner, from the skeletons Times draspher did good – 3, The enlarge person spell, taking out a dragon, mending train tracks   Times draspher did bad – 7, ghost sounds through the glass window he had previously been told was too thick, nearly giving away the groups connection to southwater to a complete stranger, the antlers, getting mugged, announcing he was mugged by kids, announcing he was going after kids to beat the crap out of them, nearly hitting me with adhesive spittle AGAIN   Team members drilled over – 10, Vex getting shot in the back, Yolan getting a dragon dropped on him, draspher and Yolans spells backfiring, draspher getting mugged, Telon down a hole, I find a secret door filled with skeletons,  getting eaten by a slime, ocelot misfires (2) Terms confused/forgotten – 4.5, the guild name, the fact we had papers (.5), the collages, the tournament name, mr Quinn link