#tilia of tragedy

[your-talos-is-problematic]

For the First Time In Forever, WIP Wednesday!!

I am being brave and starting it myself today 😟. I know I haven’t contributed in a long time, but I think I’m now at a moment where life has calmed down enough for me to want to write again. Until auditions, but that’s another whole can of worms. Tagging @skyrim-forever @trickstarbrave @throughtrialbyfire @friend-of-giants and anyone who sees this and wants to join!

No TES stuff rn but I do have some Baldur’s Gate writing! I actually finally got myself to write again because I had this whole scene out in my mind and told myself to just write it down before I forgot it. Being able to share the work in progress here was actually a big motivator too!

So, without further ado, here’s a scene that hasn’t happened yet in my playthrough, but oh well. Narrator is my Tav, Tilia- helpful information is that she’s a tiefling draconic soul sorcerer. Also there’s italics on her inner thoughts but those don’t copy-paste between notes app and tumblr properly.

I pushed open the door, stepped in, and stood waiting, silently, for the aging halfling shopkeeper to notice me.

After a few seconds, he looked up, his lightless eyes not making contact with mine, but drawing upwards to my horns. After a short sigh, he explained, “We don’t serve tieflings here,” in the cadence of a line he had said more times than he had the right to.

That’s to be expected. I responded with a smile. “Even me?”

Confusion and annoyance crossed his brow. “I don’t know who you are, girl, but I don’t need to. Devil-spawn aren’t-“

“Aren’t welcome? The number of times I’ve heard that. Tragically,” I said, realizing too late that he wouldn’t get the joke, “it’s exactly what I expected to hear from my own grandfather.”

There was a long, empty silence in the room after that. I eventually disrupted it by hopping up onto a table and curling my tail onto my knees, turning to watch the recognition dawning on his face.

He moved away from the counter to stand closer, still leaving me a wide berth, then brought his eyes up to mine. “You’re leaving. Now. GUARDS!” The two people, both armed and armored, who had been watching anxiously by the door, began to move towards me. It’s a good thing I’d thought of this- coming here alone was risky, so I’d remembered to keep a few spells on hand.

I pressed my fingertips together, pointing my hands in the direction of the two people but not releasing them. All three sets of eyes were trained on the tendrils of poisonous Weave held in my palms. Cloudkill was a bit strong of a choice, but for the sake of my pride, my mother’s heart, and my father’s nerves, I needed this to go correctly.

“It’s not very nice to attack your granddaughter. Now, can I continue my story, please?”Taking his [empty/fearful/annoyed? gaze] as a yes, I continued on, in my best impression of a bard.

“Yes! The little Zariel tiefling baby belonging to you, my good sir, miraculously managed to survive its abandonment. In fact, she- yes, your child is a she, even though you never knew her long enough to find out, lived long enough in Reithwin to meet a man. A tiefling man, no less, coming from a long line of people proud to be tieflings. She swept him off of his feet and they left for Elturel together.” I took a strategic breath, giving him time to recall the fate of that city- my best bet is that the high classes of Baldur’s Gate don’t think about what happened to us all that often. “Before everything went down with Avernus- she survived, no worries- they had a daughter.” Another pause- this time to let my green, scaly wings materialize and unfold. I slid my eyes away from the rest of the room and directly to his own. “A daughter born with the dragonblood that, as far as I know, comes from your side of the family! Isn’t that unbelievable?”

He’d been glued to my words since I brought out the wings, so I slid down from the table, landing face-to-face with him, and let the magic from the Cloudkill flow back into me. Up close, I could notice more details about him- he was definitely the right age to be my grandfather. More notably, there was a resemblance between us- the curly hair, and the nose shape that betrayed me as a descendant of halflings.

“What do you want, little girl?” His tone was exhausted, intentionally- he was deflecting. Nobody wants to hear about the child they abandoned, I suppose.

“I’m [23?]. And I want everything you know about the dragonblood. Then you never have to see me or my family again.”

“Fine. One of the sorcerers in the family wrote a book about it, I think. I’ll look for it.” He turned away, taking a few steps in the direction of the stairs.

“And I want a letter of apology to my mom, written and signed in your hand.”

His head snapped back in my direction, indignation on his face. “No.”

“Yes,” I said, with my best threatening smile. Last resort- Thamaturgy. I let lighting gently crackle across my horns and arms.

“My daughter doesn’t want to hear from me,” he responded.

“You haven’t seen your daughter since she was a day old and you left her in Reithwin. Don’t tell me what she’d want.” I knew this part was going to be hard, but I care about my mother.

[shit happens idk]

“Mhm. I’ll take those books. And I’ll be back tomorrow morning for the letter.” I turned

“Wait a second, girl.”

I turned. Come on. This was going exactly like I wanted it to. With a hint of anxiety in my voice, I asked, “What?”

“Who do I address the letter to?”

“[mom’s name that is some sort of positive quality or whatnot].”

“And you are?”

“Tilia of Tragedy.”

[she leaves]

Now I have to figure out how to get a letter to Waterdeep.

[your-talos-is-problematic]

this ship has truly been Theseus’d

[your-talos-is-problematic]

girl who peeled a lemon and is eating it like a cutie

[your-talos-is-problematic]

more tilias because I’m bored (picrew)

[your-talos-is-problematic]

Late, Great, WIP Wednesday

Hello thespians, lesbians, and Tesblians! I’m tagging myself this Turkey Day because it’s really good motivation to keep writing. Here’s a little Astarion and Tilia practice I wrote during bites of cranberry sauce. It’s mostly written, just needs some setup at the beginning, cleanup, and my enemy dialogue tags.

Extremely minor spoilers for the Search The Cellar quest!

“Astarion.”

“You want something?”

She stood holding something rectangular wrapped in black cloth. “You know what this is?”

He stared at it for a few seconds, then nodded. 

“I’ll give it to you. To do whatever you want with.”

He drew in a gasp from between his teeth. “If?”

“If you don’t mention it to anyone. You do not show it to anyone. If someone asks, you say I have it, and it is stored safely and secretly. And if anything strange happens, you will tell me immediately.

“You know, Tilia, if I really wanted to, I’d just take this book from you.

“If you want it enough to kill me, then you don’t deserve to have it, do you?”

He scoffed. “Life isn’t about what any of us deserve, Tilia. It’s about what we’re ruthless enough to get.”

“You know that’s a stupid belief, Astarion, and-“ she stopped arguing and sighed. “Between you, the gith, and the priestess of Shar, there’s a lot of cynicism in this group.”

“Cynicism’s how you survive, dear.”

“Not for me. It’s not what got me out of hell.” She noticed the vampire inching closer and paused to pull the bundle behind her. “Or Karlach.”

By this point he was extremely close to her, close enough to notice the faint green shimmer around her. “False Life, dear? You preparing for something?”

“It’s a cursed book, Astarion. Of course I’m prepared.” She pried open his clammy fingers with one hand to let the knife clatter on the floor, then pushed his hand towards his heart. “I’ll give you the book, but you have to promise you’ll report anything that happens.”

Something in her eyes told him to say yes- maybe sincerity, maybe fear. Either way, he obliged. “I promise, Tilia. Now give me the book.”

An age seemed to pass as she deliberated, her tail seeming to provide a metronome with its slams into the ground. “Yep.” She brought the bundle forward and slid it into his open hands. He noted dimly that she seemed to be digging her fingernails into his skin.

“You can go now.”

“I know, Astarion.”

She stepped towards the doorway, seeming lighter than before. Her hand brushed the side of the tent before she turned around. “Astarion?”

He was standing, eyes glued to the exposed cover of the book. “Yes?” he whispered.

“Try not to get hurt.”

[your-talos-is-problematic]

Thank you so much for the tag! It makes me really happy that you’d like to hear about my OCs. I’m going to do this with both Afonya and Tilia since I’m planning to write the two of them together soon. This is a really good set of questions and I think it’ll come in a ton of use for characterization! Especially #10.

Afonya Maryon

What is your oc's name? Why did you choose it? Were there any other names you considered? Afonya was named when I had no idea how Dunmer naming conventions worked so I just went with what sounded nice. It’s just ‘cranberry’ thrown into Google Translate until one worked. BUT after I published the fic someone commented on it and it turns out it’s a name in Russia meaning immortality/resurrection so it’s perfect for That Word Was Afonya’s concept!

How was your oc raised? What kind of background? Not well, I can tell you. Another thing that sprang from me not knowing how Dunmer worked is that she didn’t originally have a last name. So I decided that she hated her parents, and it sprung from there. I’ve decided her parents were Dunmer bitter at essentially everyone because their ‘family business’ of farming in Morrowind was destroyed after the Argonian invasion. They left her and Elia, who’s three years younger than her, when Afonya was fifteen so they could try to pressure the government into making slavery legal again. She hasn’t heard from them since. She had to do a lot of work as a kid- sustaining what was left of the farm, and eventually raising Elia. To make enough money, she worked as a bard at a tavern in her hometown.

What values do they have? How were they instilled in them? Afonya cares about three main things: survival, family, and piety. The first one she learned from having to provide for herself from such a young age. She’s not a “I must survive above all else” person, but she will bend morals for it if she has to, like killing a hostage for the Dark Brotherhood knowing she couldn’t fight Astrid. As for family, she realized when reaching Skyrim that even though she hates her parents, she cared about Elia more than almost anything. Meeting Brelyna and adopting children helped her understand how having a healthy family makes you want to live so much more. Her religious side does actually come from her parents, namely her Reclamations priest father. She worships them every morning, and considers Azura to be her guiding light. She is deeply ashamed of it, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill for Boethia.

What does your oc look like? Have they had other designs? How has their look changed? Afonya looks like a Skyrim character in-game, but I’ll add my best representation of what she looks like to the bottom of this section. Importantly, she’s undeniably a Dunmer, but doesn’t fit the usual look: her skin trends more purple than gray and a historical incident in her family has led to her having functional but purely white pupil-less (not accurately represented in image) eyes. Not shown there is the face paint she has in-game that I’ll probably avoid canonizing, and her curly hair (although it has notably flattened since she left Morrowind). At the start of my playthrough, she had much longer hair, but she cut it soon after getting to Skyrim. She’s also evolved from more heavy armor sets to the much lighter royal vampire armor, which helps her cast better and is much more her.

Does your oc have a family? What do they define as family? Being a Dunmer, Afonya has a lot of strong emotions relating to family. She doesn’t associate with her Orel side- her parents’ family, and refuses to make any contact with any of their spirits. However, she’s fiercely loyal to her sister. She considers herself to have two types of family: one that’s defined by her and consists of Elia, Brelyna, and her daughters Lucia and Runa, and one that’s defined by Dunmeri society, made up of Brelyna and the other Maryons. She’s intensely loyal to both.

Does your oc have a mentor or someone they look up to? Why do they look up to them? Afonya has always looked to Azura for guidance. She’s felt a connection for a long time, but it strengthened when she got to Skyrim and became unbreakable when she became Azura’s chosen. She’s the most reliable of the Reclamations in Afonya’s mind: no matter where she is, the sun and the moon will always rise. She also considers Paarthurnax a safe space- his wisdom and force of character comforts her. She also wants desperately to impress and be able to learn from Brelyna’s father. They’re very similar- both married into House Telvanni, both fiercely dedicated to their house, their family, and their wives, and both devoted to magic.

What has been the most significant event in your oc's life? How has this affected them? Afonya’s saved the world, but something about being a fabled Nord hero destined to defeat a Nord dragon makes it ring empty to her. The most emotionally significant thing that’s ever happened to her is becoming Azura’s Chosen. She’s desperate for the approval of the people she cares about, and seeing her Lady’s trust in her being rightly placed has given her the confidence to endure so much struggle and rejection. She doubts her own honor, her own devotion, and her own strength, but she would never doubt Azura, and Azura believes in her.

Who does your oc care about? Is it reciprocal? Brelyna, Lucia, Runa, the Thieves Guild, Azura, The College of Winterhold, and Elia. Always, a tense yes, yes, yes though they don’t like to admit it, as much of a yes as a goddess can give, yes, and of course. She also has a deep care for the Dunmer people, and on a large scale it’s mostly a no. But seeing figures in power like Neloth and the Maryons, as well as the people of Raven Rock, approve of her means a lot. Sometimes she worries about being stretched too thin with her care, and a lot of the time she is, but she knows she can never just stop caring.

What are your oc's hobbies? How do they relax? When Afonya gets time to rest, she likes to play music. She plays a string instrument and the flute, and they’re really important to her. She also uses magic in her daily life constantly, but being able to truly connect with it and examine its purposes outside of the battlefield is a fufilling, almost meditative activity for her. She especially enjoys doing it with Brelyna. Any moment where she can just be herself and not worry about anyone’s approval is relaxing to her too, whether it’s a night at home with her kids, a drink with Teldryn deep in a ruin, or a book read in the hall of the Companions.

What should we understand most about your oc? Afonya is terrified. She’s young, and since she got to Skyrim all she’s wanted to do is survive. Even though she’s in unimaginable power now, in both social status and magical terms, and living very comfortably, she knows that as soon as she dies, her soul’s going to be traded between and fought over by multiple Daedra. And all signs point to the end being Mora. She never had any say in being Dragonborn, which she knows, so all that’s left for her is to try to live as long as she can with Brelyna and her daughters. She’s been projecting confidence for so long it’s second nature, but underneath everything she wants to be a girl nobody expects anything excessive from and who gets to choose what happens with her life and death.

Tilia of Tragedy

What is your oc's name? Why did you choose it? Were there any other names you considered? Tilia is a genus of citrus tree, chosen by me from the National Tree List because I thought a lime tree fit with her whole green-haired green dragon sorcerer thing. The “of tragedy” part was added on because I thought it’d be fun to decide on what it meant as I learned more about her and the world, and it worked! I’ve decided that it’s a reference to how her and her family survived Elturel’s fall- a tragic event, but one that they didn’t let bring them down.

How was your oc raised? What kind of background? Tilia spent ages 0-19 in a middle-class tiefling family in Elturel, getting a good education and being raised by two very supportive parents. Then, she spent ages 20-29 in a still very supportive tiefling family in Elturel, with the addition of Elturel now being in Avernus.

What values do they have? How were they instilled in them? Tilia’s optimism, caring nature, and pride in being a tiefling come from her parents, who made sure she would be able to survive the world’s harsh realities by teaching her to be a good person. She sees the good in everyone, from Astarion to Mizora, and lets everyone know that if they start trying, they’ll become a good force on the world and win her support. Her current tadpole-fueled adventure is also teaching her the value of autonomy. She’s learning what being deprived of it does to a person, and she wants to make sure that happens as infrequently as possible.

What does your oc look like? Have they had other designs? How has their look changed? Technically, Tilia started as a gith. But after creating the entire design, I decided I wanted to play a tiefling, because horns. About an hour of character creation went into her, and her face, body, and hair haven’t changed since. However, her clothing has, significantly. She started the game in the default sorcerer robe- it’s green, which matches her style, but it also makes her look younger, less prepared for battle. Since Act 2, she’s been in a much fancier robe in both green and red, helping to make her look a lot more intentional and respected but still retaining her sorcerous energy. I’ll add a photo of her (from act 1) to this post too.

Does your oc have a family? What do they define as family? Tilia’s an only child, so she views her family as herself and her parents. As close as she is with her companions, she doesn’t need to consider them familial to care about them. She also would define her father’s family as extended family, but not her mother’s, who was cast out after being born a tiefling. She does make jokes about Zariel being her grandmother, which are both inaccurate and sarcastic.

Does your oc have a mentor or someone they look up to? Why do they look up to them? No, at least not yet. Tilia views herself as an equal in optimism and spirit to Karlach. She sees the rest of her companions as people with admirable traits that still need to learn some things about life before anyone should look up to them.

What has been the most significant event in your oc's life? How has this affected them? The one moment that’s tested Tilia’s strength is (BALDUR’S GATE SPOILERS! LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN’T REACHED ACT THREE OR SPENT A LOT OF TIME THERE) being told she was worthless by the Emperor. She feels like she’s walking into a trap with the elder brain situation, a trap that only works because she does care so much. And she’s seen what happens when people’s bodies become not their own, so knowing the Emperor can just take away its protection and force Tilia to undergo cerremorphosis terrifies her.

Who does your oc care about? Is it reciprocal? Tilia cares about everone. In her eyes, nobody is irredeemable. Because of this, a lot of her care isn’t reciprocated, but she’s determined to get people to learn to care. This is in full force with her companions- Karlach, Wyll, Gale, and Minsc have cared about her since they met just because she’s a person. And she’s made sure to always be there for Lae’zel and Shadowheart, and noticed that they’ve both grown to appreciate her. Most difficult is Astarion, but she can tell she’s getting there. She makes sure to offer reassurance and support to him as much as possible. Jaheira and her both know that the other is powerful, but vulnerable. Honestly, though, she feels nothing for (SPOILERS) the Emperor and very little for Halsin. She’s learning she doesn’t have a ton of respect for people she doesn’t feel respect her boundaries.

What are your oc's hobbies? How do they relax? Tilia’s worked in fashion in both Elturel and Baldur’s Gate, and learned that sewing and dying clothes are physical tasks she enjoys doing. Often when she’s worried about something she’ll select some item from her companions that she feels like is the wrong color for their style and re-dye it. She also enjoys reading, and has been delighted to learn that her girlfriend does too. She reads to Karlach at camp often, as a way to be close to her and to help them both clear their heads.

What should we understand most about your oc? Tilia is satisfied, and confident, and sweet. But there’s a part of her that’s hungry. She wants desperately to connect with her dragonblood- searching papers meticulously for any mention of a green dragon, seeking out anyone who has the same powers as her, counting and tracing the growth of every scale on her body. Something stirs inside her when she casts Cloudkill or lets her wings fold out from her back or touches her tongue to someone’s skin, and she’s determined to find out what it is.

OC Infodump tag

Seeing as this post is doing quite well, I figured we could use a tag to info dump on our ocs without the pressure to make anything :)

I'm tagging: EVERYONE if you've got an oc you wanna talk about do this and tag me! Choose any/all ocs and answer whichever ones you'd like :)

Specifically I'm tagging friends @dirty-bosmer @lucien-lachance @thequeenofthewinter @akaviri-dovah @throughtrialbyfire @its-christmas-probby @ladytanithia @blackmetalsnake @sheirukitriesfandom @nerevar-quote-and-star

What is your oc's name? Why did you choose it? Were there any other names you considered?

How was your oc raised? What kind of background?

What values do they have? How were they instilled in them?

What does your oc look like? Have they had other designs? How has their look changed?

Does your oc have a family? What do they define as family?

Does your oc have a mentor or someone they look up to? Why do they look up to them?

What has been the most significant event in your oc's life? How has this affected them?

Who does your oc care about? Is it reciprocal?

What are your oc's hobbies? How do they relax?

What should we understand most about your oc?

[your-talos-is-problematic]

this is the most “tiliach/karlia in one image” ever. me when I’m staring lovingly at my girl as she talks to a corpse and shadowheart third wheels

[your-talos-is-problematic]

one of the most tiliach things ever sorry

[your-talos-is-problematic]

Tilia and Afonya moodboards!

[your-talos-is-problematic]

[your-talos-is-problematic]

clearly when I was designing tilia I was like “how many defining traits can I fit into one character”

[your-talos-is-problematic]

hello i’m tilia “ethics of a wealthy and powerful person stealing from and exploiting a different race to create what they pretend is altruistic medical treatment but is actually just helping specific people to achieve their goals of gaining power” of tragedy and this is my girlfriend karlach “horrors of the military draft and the feeling of complete powerlessness when the people that did this to you are so powerful and so unreachable” cliffgate

[your-talos-is-problematic]

how I picture tilias singing voice ngl

[your-talos-is-problematic]

imagining Karlach trying to explain the concept of boneless wings and Tilia repeatedly failing insight checks and very much Not Getting It and repeatedly pulling out the draconic soul sorcerer wings to be like “look they have bones” and karlach silently laughing her ass off

[your-talos-is-problematic]

She can’t have them in-game (probably because it would be too hard to animate) but omg Tilia finally getting the Draconic Soul Sorcerer wings have given me so many character moment ideas. Especially because dragon and devil wings look really similar and she’s a tiefling… Wyll looking up to see something with horns and wings and a tail standing in front of him. But it’s not a devil. Karlach letting something with horns and wings and a tail into her arms, her heart, her bed. But it’s not a devil. It only takes a second to notice that the wings are green. It’s not a devil. It’s a dragon.

But only for a minute. You glance away and look back and standing in front of you is a tiefling girl, with the only hint of draconic blood being the scales on her face and the fire in her eyes.

[your-talos-is-problematic]

I’m so happy Baldur’s Gate has let Tilia and Gale be a chaotic college professor duo this is so many fanfics waiting to be written