#temple of betrayal

[balemouns]

you cannot see the forest if lost among the trees. a glance acknowledges paimon's arrival and lyney's attention to one of the walls -- but she stays toward the center of the temple's hall, still attempting to trace the source of the malevolent presence with her own sensitivity to cursed energy. let the others focus on the walls and their imagery; if they were getting out of here anytime soon, time would be best spent divided by what drew towards each individual's talents. and here, in a place like this... they certainly needed someone to work on seeing the bigger picture.

still, arlecchino is not without her attention to detail.

an errant thought considers the floor beneath her as feet cross towards a still-sealed doorway on the opposite end of the ruin -- how it would clack, clack, clack if she were wearing her usual heels instead of beach-ready sandals. but steps make a sound regardless; ears listen for a hint of hollowness, but these floor stones are too thick and carry a suppressive energy to them, and appear to be similar in composition to the rubble by the entrance. something beneath still seems a remote possibility, if the floors carry an enchantment like this... but there's no way to know for sure if there's something underneath. arlecchino looks up as she gets closer to the sealed door; somehow, the presence she sensed outside has actually dampened in its proximity, as though she was standing in front of a powerful suppressant.

instincts scream out from the back of her mind: something is here. behind here. something that needed to be trapped. as she turns back, arlecchino notices the little melusine making her way in: good. it would be best for as many of the group as possible to hear this. “so, it seems there’s something being held behind this door… perhaps best left be unless we can’t find any other way back to where we all came from. is it safe to assume your circumstances are similar to our own? someone who was accompanying us is no longer with us here.” she hoped that warning was clear enough -- even she didn't dare touch the door just yet. but before paimon and the melusine respond to her question, she acknowledges the thought that her own remark probably just resurfaced in lyney's mind with a turn towards him before speaking. lynette isn't here. that they were both almost sure of, if just on gut feeling alone.

“...I know you’re already wanting to look for her. but something isn’t right here; if we’re going to find her, we need to get out of wherever this is first.” she falls quiet for a moment, providing the others here a chance to finally answer -- the melusine mentions evidence she'd found of blood outside, and confirms she had been with someone else before. and paimon... poor thing. by the sound of it, she really wasn't without her companion very often, was she?

another question then... one the fairylike girl would be the most likely candidate to know an answer to. “paimon. you and the traveler know a great many people. have you encountered the man who was outside before?” he was still very much an unknown quantity -- and not in here with them. she receives a name and identity -- mr. kaveh, a friendly scholar. "...thank you. I'll see to him now; sounds like he may have a useful perspective to include. if the three of you notice anything else inside here, we should discuss once everyone is together." as she walks back towards the entrance, it feels a little like she's leaving three children to their own devices inside a haunted ruin... almost literally. but they'd have to manage for a few minutes. ( hopefully, she shouldn't have to tell them to not touch the door a second time... right? )

another rumble follows her on the way out.

the assault of heat once outside again is a stark contrast from the frigid air inside the ruins. head turns in the opposite direction of where she'd seen the blond fellow wander off in, assuming he's likely made his way around the structure; arlecchino needs to only take several steps that way before she hears someone approaching around the corner. a thin smile greets him as arms fold into each other across ribs. "... find anything interesting? I've heard you're a scholar from sumeru; you can call me arlecchino. my children and I are also acquainted with miss paimon."

@avcnturine @feliscus @entwinefates @sedena

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[thrumugnyr]

Hey! Started following you from the moment you started posting things on #curse of strahd. Haven't seen Patataj in a while. I love your art and will definetley commission you when the opportunity comes!

Just wanted to know how is your loveley bard doing? How is the campaign overall?

I hope this question didn't bother you much

Patataj is still running through Barovia, only making the soundest of decisions! For example he wanted to protect some werewolves from certain death after he helped them rebel so he agreed with Strahd's offer of giving him 10 whole favors. He was just too happy about the werewolves being okay.

Rahadin was angry, not so much because Patataj owes favors to Strahd, but because Patataj is clearly absolutely terrible about making deals. And what if something else asks for a bargain?

[ilivingonmyway]

Wait a minute...

*Turns*

... *Look it back at the episodes names*

*Turns again*

... Dam.

[natroze]

wow netherdeep party finally has villains! unfortunately for us it's.... our cool flirty rivals, who betrayed us! and also a lady who has absolutely committed arson and grand theft book from our bard, and seems to be behind our rivals turning on us...

also re: mom--when your mother is an archduke of hell, that's a pretty valid reason to be concerned. Hang in there buddy...

[accursedvoid]

Not me listening to ‘No Longer You’ and thinking about how the latter half could parallel Anakin/Vader….

[anakinh]

finished rebirth. chapter 13 was wonderful. chapter 14... all i have to say is bad concept, cool boss fights. although i would've liked it more if they gave me some warning that i had to use all of the characters, cait sith included. fuck in cait sith. every time...

also, the conclusion for aerith's Whole Deal seems like it was the writers being too cowardly to conclude definitively and is waiting for the fandom's reaction before finalizing it in part 3. which wouldn't be a problem if they just stuck to the og. anyway, fuck this ending and see you all in 2028.

[birb--birb]

OC Meme Tag Game

ty for the tag @cleric4vampire, I just picked Cassius' save back up so perf time to talk about my barbarian boi!

Cassius

Nicknames: Cass, little wretch (originally from twin sister Kestrel), dearest death

Pronouns: he/him

Star sign: I think I originally said Sagittarius but I really like Scorpio for him (and Kestrel)

Height: 5'10

Orientation: demi-romantic, bisexual

Race: half high elf

Romancing: Halsin and Astarion

Favourite fruit: any citrus, oranges and grapefruits are top faves

Favourite season: fall

Favourite flower: columbine

Favourite scent: liquorice root

Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: herbal tea

Average sleep hours: usually only 4 hours a night, but when he inevitably crashes he's out for a solid 12 at least.

Dogs or cats: he wants to love cats so badly but cats just don't love him/are scared of him

Amount of blankets: ALL OF THEM. The more the better. Bury him in blankets, yes he'll roast alive but he'll be so at peace

Random fact: younger of the two twins. Doesn't know their mother (presumed dead) and raised by a group of bhaalists at the temple. Loves spicy food!

He and kestrel have matching tattoos down both their arms. It was originally a quirk of the unique Tav mod (bc I was too scared lazy to swap out folders) but I liked the idea of them getting simular designs but with different runes/words interwoven. Kestrels has runes invoking ambition and cunning whereas Cassius's are about balance and perservence (and ofc they have each other's names woven in there so they'll always have a part of each other with them no matter where they go)

[therisenphoenix]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dion Lesage/Joshua Rosfield Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield, Clive Rosfield Additional Tags: Phoenixflare, Phoenix Flare Weekly, Prompt - Temple, Betrayal, Angst with a Happy Ending, Revenge Summary:

Dion is drawn to the ruins of an old temple, though he finds a lot more than simply broken stone there

[petalpierrot]

.

[justarandomlambblog]

thinking things for a potential plot point but if Narinder back at the height of the Old Faith had had his own realm in the living world (as I doubt his followers would be all too happy to live in the world of the dead y'know, and in the Gateway past his door there are doors (behind fences) leading further into what I would like to assume was his living dominion)...

If it's anything, from the Gateway I imagine the forest beyond the (ascension circle? Spell circle?) pentagram is overgrown and wild, with a few settlements of... possibly aggressive people (I don't think the Bishops wiped out Narinder's followers/land but I imagine they probably did block it off from the rest of the realms, so there are still people there) descended from Narinder's original cult. Whether or not they ever knew what happened to Narinder I have no idea, they either know too well about the Bishops' betrayal against him or believe he abandoned them but are unable to get out of his old domain.

Outside of the settlements it would essentially be a giant (and once-beautiful and carefully tended) graveyard, with graves and mausoleums throughout the different clearings. Willows grow large and uncontained, there are statues of Narinder (like the ones in the Gateway) in just about every graveyard depicting him as a sort of "guardian" figure (kinda like how in modern graveyards it's not unusual to find statues of angels), and there are grand pillars and ever-burning candles like the one that lines the path to the gate. The chains in the gateway were not there before Narinder was imprisoned, it's symbolic (who put it there? Hmm...).

As for the bones scattered everywhere, those were bones of heretics (from outside of his Siblings' cults, ofc) who had dared to try and invade Narinder's land, and were arranged around the gateway to warn off potential threats. Bones are used as decoration throughout the realm but not in such a manner.

Now Narinder's temple.... that one I still need to think on. I don't think the gateway is inside his temple (though it certainly can be- with the pillars and stone walls surrounding it, it could easily have been a courtyard, but seeing as the other areas also had stone entryways I think it's most likely just that- an entryway) but. Anyway.

If you read all that thanks, I did this instead of doing homework 👍

[snappysprinkledog]

Yknow what I think would be a real interesting dynamic? The 501st and Vader anakin post order 66.

Because some like Rex wouldn't know about anakins involvement, wouldn't know that anakin went along with it, went along with the mind control and that robbing of agency of the clones to the point he marched on the temple with them under the influence of it.

But those who did? Who were with anakin when it happened?

What heads pace would they have been in towards anakin after order 66, how would they have felt about it, how would they have felt about anakin?

[marsbotz]

wait ok sorry one more annoying post b4 bed. i have to see if i can still quote the two scenes ik off by heart

[ariadne-mouse]

Braius: I don't follow Graham the Fallen Saint of the Platinum Dragon, but I'm basically his incarnation in this life and I was cast away by temple leadership like him for my misdeeds ��� I'm just on my holy journey 😢 🙏

Highbearer Vord: something about you still smells funny (it's the fresh paint over that betrayer's symbol on your chest) and your last name is literally Doomseed but I do think it would be funny if you accidentally redeemed yourself while pretending to redeem yourself. let's play ball, herald of Asmodeus the lord of lies. put on the truth armor

[fanaroff]

Kind of continuation to this comic.

The first thing he opens his eyes to—

———

“Narinder?”

Too loud. Too bright. Too much. Even through closed eyelids and flattened ears. His head pounded behind his eyes. A rhythmic thumping so loud in his ears. A noise he was so unused to. A mortal sound.

Pain was a blinding experience when one was no longer numb to it. The One Who Waits could only huddle in one spot and cling to his own shoulders with claws he couldn’t not yet control enough to retract. He knew where he sat, but he was not going to allow the recognition to settle.

Hurt lanced across his chest, his wrists. He wanted it to stop. This was not how things were supposed to go. He’d planned for so long. How could this have happened?

Narinder chose wrong. He chose wrong. He chose the wrong vessel. His vessel who built him up, built a Temple in his name, raised devotion! His vessel who then tore him down and reduced him to this quivering mess of a new mortal.

How he wished they’d chosen to kill him instead. To have ended his millennia of suffering, not extend it further.

He chose wrong.

The physical hurt now ran in tandem with the emotional. How could they do this to him? When he saw them choose… he thought that maybe things would go right. He would be free and his vessel tucked safely in their own little heaven… but he saw them return the Red Crown to their own head. That damned Lamb!

The one he gave life to! The one he saved!

Betrayed by one he trusted so—

Now he was here. Now he was mortal. How foolish of him.

“���Narinder?” Faust’s voice was gentle, no doubt a front put on for the followers (they should be HIS) that he could hear hanging about in curiosity. (Insects to be squashed! How dare they look upon his visage and see him in this form!)

Narinder knew that if he were to open his eyes, he’d see nothing but hatred in theirs. After all, he ordered his vessel to sacrifice themself. And after all, this was not something his vessel was willing to do. Would such an ask not generate hatred in one unwilling?

Either way, the refusal… the betrayal… has generated hatred within Narinder and when he returned to strength… he would make them pay.

There was no point in putting things off.

Narinder cracked open an eye, blinking rapidly against the blinding light, prepared to see the Lamb standing before him with a weapon in hand. (They’d be foolish not to, what if he chose to attack?)

Instead, the Lamb kneeled before him (why kneel now and not then?), a bowl of water in hand and fake concern across their face. They were still covered in spots of their blood and Narinder’s ichor from their battle, fleece torn in places and wool sticking up in different directions. Yet, they were the victor and looked it. Narinder had no doubt that he looked worse.

He felt worse.

Light from the setting sun lit against Faust, brightening them in almost a halo. It would be beautiful sight… if not for the knowledge he had.

“Betrayer.” Narinder rasped. It came out wrong. He wanted it to be a hiss. A snarl. But it was a wheeze of air at best. His throat hated it. He hated it.

Faust had the gall to shake their head. They opened their mouth to speak, but Narinder beat them to it.

“Betrayer. I never should have chose you. A lamb that defiled my name. My Temple for their own!” He slowly devolved into a rant. A proper tantrum for the ages. Spitting insults that brought gasps of shock from those around them, a few being hands to weapons (garden tools at best), and yet Faust did not react.

If he had taken a moment, he would have noticed their eyes darken to sadness and a frown overtaking their features. He would have noticed the hurt. The Crown trying to get his attention that he had chosen the wrong subject for his ire. But he was understandably focused on his own.

“I wish not to see you! I wish not to be here! Kill me, Usurper! End the suffering you drag out further!” Narinder’s voice had torn by the end, quieted by the force he attempted to put behind it and sounding as if he’d been exposed to the smoke of fires for hours.

He’d begged at the end. Begged to be killed and put out of his misery. And again the Lamb ignored this.

When Narinder was done, panting harshly and lying against the ground as his body turned tired, Faust stood from their kneel and turned to a she-rabbit. They placed the bowl of water in her hands.

“Take him to a tent. I feel he would be calmer if I were not in his line of sight. Have someone come to me if he attempts to attack anyone. Make sure he drinks. Make sure he eats. Force him to if you have to, but be careful. He has not eaten in a long while.”

The she-rabbit bowed her head as Faust turned without a second look to Narinder and strode towards the Temple. His temple no longer.

Narinder could only squirm and attempt at clawing, glaring at Faust’s back as he was dragged away with the help of two other followers. Kicking and screeching, he vowed to himself that the Lamb would pay for this.

They all would pay.

— —

Quick Oneshot that may not stay canonical, or it may stay as a companion piece. The image will stay canonical as the first thing Narinder sees upon his indoctrination. For now, it’s a prompt for myself.

I plan to do the main fic series from Faust’s POV, but I wanted to play around with some of Narinder’s thoughts. I don’t know if it worked though, I have a hard time thinking how someone might react in hatred so I hope I got it close enough.

Hope you like it!

[antariies]

new harley lore dropped last night

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

Wait, sorry. It's kind of funny because Feenie's sprites can sort of be split into Larry-esque or Iris-esque (which makes sense, because he would have been around them the most at this point), but these are the sprites he shares with Larry:

While these are the ones he shares with Iris:

And it's just like. "We're so lovey-dovey we make everyone sick!" Are you sure, Feenie. Are you absolutely sure that your relationship was really all sunshine and rainbows if these were the two main expressions you got from your girlfriend.

so what exactly was he saying or doing so much of that made her make this face around him often enough for him to copy it?