#strahd is awake and PISSED

[weve-got-dnd-at-home]

"Nezes is Not Having a Good Time"

Nezes is the character I love most of all of my characters. She helped to defeated Strahd, then was thrown into an entirely new world by a mindflayer to go after her friend, Izek. She's tired.

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Nezes was exhausted.

Not the tired of walking all day on a dusty path or the tired of needing sleep after a long day. Not even the tired of a parent awake with a weepy baby. Bone-deep exhausted. She was so tired that her soul ached from it. She had been having the two weeks from hell. 

Had it really be less than a month? There was no way. She had experienced entire lifetimes in those two weeks. She had gained a soul, gained, lost, and regained a patron to give her powers, been saved by a halfling and a bird-shifter, defeated two horrible monsters, met werewolves and an elf who ran purely on rage, befriended apex predators, has her home burned to the ground, found that her best friend had been turned into a… new being, fused with others, started a war with the vampire lord, and, finally, broke into his castle and killed him. She had hoped that would be the end. That they could rebuild Vlakki, she could live in peace with Garrett and Corvy, and just rest. 

Then Izek had been grabbed by the sword. Nezes knew he would do other things, he had made a pact with the sword after all. But she had hoped it wouldn't claim it's boon for a little while. A fool she had been, she supposed. Doubly so to convince the mindflayer to take her through realities to go after him. 

Izek would have been fine. He was Izek. He could have killed the vampire lord by himself. But he was her friend. She loved him. She couldn't just let him go off and not know what happened to him, if she could help. He was her family now. Though, he'd probably hate it a lot if she said that to him. 

As Nezes laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the caricature of her girlfriend storm out of the inn, she realized she should have waited a day. Just one. To find Exe and make sure she was okay. To eat a good meal with Garrett, uninhibited by camping or monsters or revelations that your girlfriend is actually a God. To just have one night to do what she had dreamed of for so long–snuggling Corvy and being safe. One day before the mindflayer sent her after Izek in this chaotic place.

Family. Vallaki. Corvy. Nezes was so mad she could spit. She was alone in this new world and she had only one thing that she could use to contact the ones she loved, the dream walking Agatha had given her. And despite how she ached for her friends, her family, she had used the power for the night to contact Gale's dad. Because it had been important to her. Because Nezes was trying to be good and kind.

They’d found Xen’thril alright, and Gale had done nothing but start a fight with another God. Did Gale even have a right to be pissed off, when she used Nezes’ powers and caused the trouble herself? 

If Izek was there, he would have said that Gale was an idiot. If Garrett was there, he would have been more kind. He would have asked Gale what was wrong, and what the situation was. But Nezes didn’t want to be kind. She didn’t want to be like Garrett. She wanted, for just one moment, to be selfish. Gale was plenty selfish, it seemed. She had family and friends whom she could visit and she just didn’t. Because she was busy. And unlike Corvy, she hadn’t even fought Strahd. No, her dad had.

Nezes ached so fiercely she thought she might cough up blood. 

She was jealous. It coated her mouth and throat like venom. The Cursebreakers had had an entire group and they had become heroes. They all had happy lives and were thriving. Vallaki had never burned. The Bluewater Inn had never crumbled to ash. 

You are not even worth remembering. The words, like a curse from the vampire lord, echoed in her head every waking moment. Being in Vallaki felt wrong. Every time she closed her eyes she saw flames and smoke and felt Corvy’s blood on her hands. 

Nezes pushed herself out of bed and limped over to the wardrobe to comb her hair. Her body ached, still sore from… well, from everything. The mirror sitting atop the wardrobe winked in the sunlight coming through the window, and in its reflection Nezes saw herself.

It wasn’t even herself, she realized. Her face was leaner, and she had several small scars now. Her eyes were hard and her lips pulled down in a way that looked like she’d forgotten how to smile. She looked tired. She was tired. Nezes wondered if she could still play instruments. Had she lost that ability when Kasxif changed her? Had she lost it on the journey here?

Nezes combed out her curls as best she could, vowing to just cut it all off if she had to keep going on these adventures. She used to take such good care of her hair. She loved its blue color and the curls, but now it was just work. She’d be able to fight better if it was a bob. Maybe she’d ask Dent to do it.

Nezes got dressed, strapped the sword of light to her back, and took a deep breath before stepping out of the inn room. Things would get better. She just had to get some breakfast. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered to herself, shutting the door.

The words rang hollow. 

Story copyright Dawn E. Dagger, 2024. Character copyright Dawn E. Dagger, Hector Fox, Dominic DK, and SchroGrey, 2024. Characters, quotes, and story cannot be used without written permission. ‘Strahd,’ ‘mindflayer,’ and ‘Vallaki’ are copyrighted by Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast, and are used in reference as allowed by fair use copyright law.

[rahadaddy]

Wedding Blues - Part II

My recording cut off last time so my party and I are in agreement that the Scoutahdin wedding will be rerecorded this afternoon. Between Scout and Rahadin getting to get married with a DM who is AWAKE, my Highly Transparent Thoughts on Alek Gwylim, the crack (?) idea of Finnegan performing “Burn Butcher Burn” at the wedding reception to piss off Strahd, Strahd making EVERYONE LOSE THEIR GODDAMN MINDS YET AGAIN... I’m eager to play.

I’m also really being a little bitch about opening my notes. I sound like Victor Vallakovich being handed the title of burgomaster, But whyyyyy???? 

I’ve got my bardcore playlist going and I’m going to work to learn from my mistakes from last time. 

Deep breath.

Welcome to Barovia. 

[ask-owl-dnd]

Whumptober 3

Sky had been awake for what felt like hours, failing to completely awaken from her impromptu nap.

All she could feel was her medallion on her chest and her undergarments, it felt like manacles around her wrists and ankles.

Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder and the blind fold was removed, a man stood before her.

His hair tied in the back and his skin almost as pale as Strahd's himself.

He looks like a needy brat and this was pissing her off.

In the corner, Sky sees a young woman playing a lute. A small note weaved with talented fingers and the Druid felt her muscles tighten.

Hold Person

Sky couldn't break out yet, so she stayed silent and listened. The man grinned, "Ah, so you do know when to stop fighting. I must say, you put up quite the fight."

Sky said nothing as the Bard continued to strum on her lute, "You know Maya gave you to us and said be careful, I'll have to admit this was an interesting way to pay a debt."

The man came closer, a hair away from Sky's face. Sky headbutt him, a crack filled the room.

The music took a different turn and another crack filled the space, the man's eyes were filled with rage as blood streamed down his face.

"It seems I underestimated you." After that Sky knew no more