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Post by Thorn on Oct 23, 2019 2:15:00 GMT -5
Astrophelle Valentina Alektos: an aasimar paladin who looks like she is made of deep space. Her twin brother is a human fighter called Amadeus Alexander Alektos, roleplayed by my irl brother. Such fun! Evlavei is the angel who guides her. He's kinda like a second father to her. I don't start Astrophelle's campaign until December, so her personality isn't set in stone. 23. StarsAstrophelle counted the star-like spots on the backs of her hands. Sometimes they moved, and sometimes there were tiny little ones which she wasn’t fully sure were there at all, or if her hands were just a bit dusty. Counting them was soothing. Almost meditative. Today there was a bigger, shinier one in amongst a red nebulaic swirl. She was just wondering if she should ask Evlavei to ask the powers-that-be to move it a little to the left so it would stand out more, when there was a knock at the door.
“Yeah?” she called.
“Your brother’s here to see you.”
“Pardon?”
She thought she must have misheard. Astrophelle hadn’t seen her brother in what, five years now? There was no reason for him to be here in Umberclutch: he was a soldier, and this was a peaceful land.
“Your brother Amadeus.”
“Amadeus?” she tossed on her golden cloak, a brighter layer of gold falling into place over her shimmering flesh. “Ooh, he better have a good reason for not writing to our mother. She was so disappointed!”
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Astrophelle fumbled with a broach. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
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Post by Thorn on Oct 23, 2019 23:50:33 GMT -5
24. HugI hadn't written my human fighter Nassi this month which is...just mean! I may only have played her for like three sessions, but I like her a lot. So I wrote her with a previous travelling companion for 'Hug.' Nassi was busy stirring lackluster soup when someone approached her, said nothing, and scrambled up onto her back. It was a very strange moment.
“What are you doing, Bree?” seemed the most sensible question to ask.
“Mmm...”
Bree rested her chin on Nassi’s shoulder. She had a pretty strong grip, the latter reflected. Like a monkey. Or a child wanting a piggyback.
“Mmm,” Bree repeated. “I was wondering why you’re sad.”
“I’m not sad.”
“Everyone’s sad, and you’ve been stirring that really gross soup for like an hour.”
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Nassi corrected, “and yes, but I’m usually sad.”
“Yeah but this is different-sad.”
“If it is, I wasn’t aware,” she huffed. “Can you please get down?”
Bree complied. She picked up a small twig and poked it into the campfire, watching the flames spark. Nassi watched her in turn.
“The really gross soup is burning,” Bree said, totally deadpan.
“I’m more worried about you burning. Also, I’ve given up on the soup.”
“What is it?”
“I dunno. A bunch of stuff we threw together. Usually you can put anything in soup and it just kinda works.”
“I gave you a turnip.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“So we’re eating rations tonight, then?”
Nassi glanced back at the others. “Yeah. I suppose. Unless somebody else is awake enough to start over.”
Bree, who did indeed seem very much awake, stuck her face into the pot and inhaled deeply. Nassi watched her. The halfling eventually withdrew and nodded thoughtfully.
“Probably needs salt or something,” was her sage advice.
“How are you not getting burned?” was Nassi’s first question.
“Magic,” Bree wriggled her fingers.
“You’re good at cooking stuff, then?” was the second question.
“Not really, no. But it’s usually about salt. Or herbs. Or sometimes there’s too much cabbage and everything just tastes like cabbage. My dad taught me that one.”
“I don’t think cabbage is the problem,” Nassi mused. “I think it’s...everything else.”
“Maybe we could kinda, like, scatter it around the camp to scare off predators?” Bree suggested cheerfully.
Her companion didn’t reply. A moment passed. Bree glanced back at the others, and then moved closer to Nassi.
“I miss people too,” the halfling said. “I think that’s normal.”
“Mmm.”
“Do you want a hug?”
“Are you offering?” Nassi eyed her sideways.
“I mean duh,” Bree held out her arms. “I’m not here just because I like poking fires with sticks. Although yeah, I like that too.”
Nassi hunkered down and they hugged. And she thought that, maybe, after all this was done, Bree might make a pretty great friend after all.
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Post by Moni on Oct 24, 2019 2:49:40 GMT -5
day 24: hug yes i am officially trolling OCtober i'm pretty sure i've written edgeman the most and that's because he has the most comedy value OK
Cepith, may the record be set straight, did not hug the dog.
Absolutely not. He may have patted his head, cooed, "good boy!" and wrapped his arms around him, but that was not what is known as a "hug." He was very lightly strangling the dog, he would like to make it very clear. The wagging tail? Clearly a stress response. The fact that the dog came for more pats? It's because the dog was obedient, and knew that it had no choice but to stick by him.
Under no circumstances was that a "hug" at all. The only times Cepith engaged in the activity known as hugging, he would like you to know, was when he was hugging demons' necks very hard. That "compassion" stuff was not befitting of a horrific warrior such as himself.
Some fools say he is capable of friendship, and Cepith would like you to know that this is also false. He was never on friendly terms with anybody. Everyone he knew feared him, especially the bearded paladin named "Khamet," who often ate lunch with him, but that was because Cepith would steal his lunch money when nobody was looking.
And more slander says that somebody fell in love with him once. When we reached him for comment, he vehemently denied this. He never kissed people he was in a relationship with; he sucked out their souls instead. Very different.
In short, we report that he is the most fearsome and merciless paladin in the land, and we hope that he does not hug our necks very hard. We apologize for any misinformation printed by our journalists.
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Post by Thorn on Oct 25, 2019 3:56:14 GMT -5
25. Search(featuring Anzi and Rinn- which Moni asked for, thanks Moni!) “What are we searching for?”
“It’d spoil the surprise if I told you.”
Anzi frowned. “How am I supposed to help you find it, then?”
“You’re not,” Rinn sidestepped a large rock. “You’re just here to keep me company until I can surprise you.”
“Ah. Okay.”
He trailed after her, watching some birds up in the canopy. To be fair, Rinn had said upfront she wanted to surprise him. Anzi had naturally assumed, however, that it would not take an hour of wandering around gods only know where, out in the forest. The fey had been watching them for a while now. At least wild animals had the decency to scatter when they approached. Fey just stared at you and only scattered when you stared back, but then when you looked away they were back again, visible just out of the corner of your eye. He felt that even if he lived to be 800, he would never get used to that.
“Here it is!”
Rinn beckoned, and Anzi moved up beside her. She was bent over a bright blue mushroom.
“Are you going to pick it?” he asked, after an awkward moment.
She shook her head. “No Anzi, you don’t pick these! You see how it’s glowing?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s good luck. For real, like, the mages at Dyventain talk about it and stuff.”
“Is that why there's a cloud of golden sparkles now?”
Rinn leaped back. “No, no. That's vaguely poisonous, we should go. But now you’ll have good luck- we both will. Isn’t that awesome?”
“It is,” he admitted. “If it’s true.”
She snorted. “If there’s one thing Dyventain knows, it’s weird magic.”
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Post by Thorn on Oct 26, 2019 3:21:46 GMT -5
26. Light (Zazz and an NPC called Valen. During their Grand Ocean Adventure, Zazz befriended the apprentice wizard Valen and (to a lesser degree) his mentor, Carla! So when I needed Zazz to be rambling at someone about magic stuff, Valen seemed the obvious choice.) Zazz cupped his hands. A ball of pale light brightened into being. He held it there a moment, gazing into it, before holding it out to his new friend Valen.
“I can do things like this too,” he said. “Not because I’m a wizard, but because I’m drow. We have like magic in our blood and stuff.”
He felt a little flutter of pride as he said that. Magic in our blood and stuff. It wasn’t the most eloquent way to put it, but it was true. There was a good reason there were so many great drow wizards.
“I can make prettier ones too,” he continued, “but they tend to stick to people and things. It only sticks around for a minute, so it’s not that bad, but it can be pretty bright.”
“Is that because you’re stuck in the dark or something? So you can see?”
Zazz shook his head. “We can see just fine in the dark. In fact, people and things look so much better in the dark, believe me! At least, underground anyway. Especially the eyes. Especially if your eyes are red or purple, then they just look incredible.”
“Your eyes are yellow though.”
“I know my eyes are yellow,” Zazz sighed.
“Like sunlight maybe?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Huh. I guess that’s kinda a cool thought.”
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Post by Thorn on Oct 27, 2019 5:26:47 GMT -5
27. DarkLaurel Fenwise and her daughter, Violet! Laurel is my elderly high-elf life cleric reserved for an (eventual) run of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. I revisited her concept after quite some time, and I actually can't decide whether or not I want her to have children at all. I do like having nice warm familial connections to work with, but I like the idea of an old ace elf without kids too. So we'll see how I'm feeling when I finally get to her game, I guess! (not great but I have a policy of sharing these no matter how good or bad they are.) Laurel perched on the wall, swinging one leg. There was a chill wind and she had her coat pulled close around her, scarf wrapped tight, chin burrowed into it as little puffs of breath condensed before her eyes. It was probably not good to be outside like this at her age, she supposed- but on the other hand, the bite in the air always made her feel so alive. There was nothing quite like a dark winter’s night, with snow on the ground and firelight flickering in every house.
There was movement. “Are you alright out here?”
She glanced over. “I’m fine, yes. Thank-you, Violet. I like the dark. Are you...are you well?”
Oh no, this was so awkward. This is what happens when you try reconnecting with your kids, Laurel. At least you remembered her name.
“Yeah I’m fine,” Violet hopped up onto the wall beside her. “I like the dark too. More peaceful, I think. Without all those humans scuttling around like the world’s ending.”
“They do tend to scuttle,” Laurel smiled. “They ask a lot of questions as well.”
“They do. You can just, you know. Glare a bit.”
“Oh, of course,” she swung her legs again. “Why are you really out here, Violet?”
Her daughter hesitated. “Well. I was worried about you.”
“In what way?”
“You were very quiet today.”
It was Laurel’s turn to hesitate.
“Just been thinking a lot,” she said, and forced a smile. “I wouldn’t worry about me. You remember what I told you about your grandmother?”
“Yeah.”
Laurel nodded. “Some days I think about her more than others. Today was one of those days.”
“Oh,” Violet nodded, swinging her legs in time with Laurel. “Would it help if I told you a story?”
“It might.”
So Violet did and, although it didn't make her stop remembering, it did contribute something to her thoughts besides that same old sadness. For now, that was enough.
EDIT: Speaking of 'sharing these no matter how good or bad', I didn't share #14 (Play) because it has some not-yet-established EuroAtlantis lore. But there were some fairly pretty descriptions of the city of Cai Shaan, so I am sharing those now! (these two descriptions have several paragraphs between them, the whole piece is not just WOW LOOK AT THE SEA ISN'T THE SEA GREAT??!?? ALSO THORN LOVES THE WORD 'GLINT.')
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Post by Thorn on Oct 28, 2019 4:05:28 GMT -5
For 28. Dream, I just did some EuroAtlantis worldbuildingscribbles again.
Yup.
Tomorrow is 'accuse' though, and that's delicious. I might write something with Ursh and the time they were totally justifiably accused of murdering someone, because that was recent and it would be fun to examine their thoughts on that in writing.
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Post by Blueysicle on Oct 28, 2019 18:09:54 GMT -5
Blaaaah, looks like pretty near all of my motivation for this event was used up in the first two weeks. =_= As I said before, me being able to do that much was a miracle in of itself, so I guess I can be proud of that little bit, at least. I can't see myself catching up with the other prompts with just a few days left in the month, but I might tackle them sometime later, even if it wouldn't technically count as "OCtober" anymore.
(Also, I'll try to get caught up reading the prompts everyone else has posted since I dropped off)
A confession: I actually wrote this prompt over a week ago, in an attempt to get myself back into the groove of things. Didn't work, obviously. DX But like the last prompt that I did, I was able to get this one done in spite of my loss of motivation because I've had this scene floating around in my head for several years. One thing that I have been liking about this event is that it gives me a good excuse to write out the ideas that are way too short for their own story and a bit too difficult to find a spot to insert them into bigger pieces.
Day 28: Dream
Lumin opened the door to his private quarters to find Ultraviolet sitting on the couch, cradling a bundle of cloth in her arms. She lifted her head and smiled warmly. Lumin did likewise. With a slight tilt of her head, Ultraviolet beckoned Lumin over. Taking care to move quietly, Lumin slowly sat down and gradually inched next to her. Gently, he rested his head against her shoulder. Delicately, he moved aside a bit of the cloth in her arms to reveal the face hiding underneath. Flicker did not stir. The baby Buzz was sound asleep. If it had been possible, the new parents could have spent the entirety of the day nestled up to each other, watching their son as he slept peacefully. But perhaps the time that their respective duties demanded of them ultimately served to make such moments all the more precious. After some time, Flicker began to wiggle in place as his eyes fluttered open. At first, he whimpered softly upon waking. But he was soon calmed by Ultraviolet's soothing whispers. Ultraviolet, still smiling, glanced at Lumin. Upon meeting one another's eyes, she gingerly adjusted her position and moved Flicker into Lumin's arms. Once they were snugly in place again, she rested her head on the side of his. Her left hand reached across his back to his left shoulder, and she tenderly pulled him closer. Lumin briefly closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. Sometimes, love could be spoken in gazes and touches made in complete silence. Any of the anxiety and worries that he previously held about starting a family had melted away and became a memory so distant that he wondered if he ever possessed them at all. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself the subject of Flicker's complete attention. At first, Flicker was expressionless as the eye-contact solidified. But the longer Flicker stared into Lumin's gentle eyes, the more he saw a rush of joy flood into the baby's face. Flicker giggled and smiled up at his father. Then, Flicker said to him, “This is nice isn't it? Too bad it's not real.” * * *
Lumin awoke with a start. His eyes snapped open and his lungs felt devoid of air. For a few moments, he was stuck in a daze so thick that neither time nor space had much meaning to him. Once his clarity returned, Lumin realized that he was laying on the edge of his bed, staring towards the opposite side. His sight was unimpeded until it eventually reached the far wall. He was in his apartment in Central Cavern, in his room that only he slept in. As he made a half-sigh, half-growl, Lumin roughly dragged his hand down his face. He could already tell it wasn't going to be a good day. |
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Post by Thorn on Oct 29, 2019 5:12:45 GMT -5
My kid again! Have some more of my sweet (if accidentally murderous in this case) orc child, Ursh. There was a shape-shifting demon. It was carrying a specific item. It then gave this item to the lady it was disguised as and, thinking she was the demon, Ursh crit hit her with a level 5 guiding bolt. She had 4 hp. 29. AccuseThey’d killed her. It wasn’t so much an accusation as a fact, and yes, Ursh had healed her besides, but the fact remained that they’d killed an innocent woman.
(Her son had immediately blamed Lord Wellweather which was, to be fair, a bit lower down their list of concerns right now, but at least he took that with good grace.)
True, Ursh had thought she was an evil fiend. And true, yeah, if she had been a fiend- which all the evidence up until the moment of her death suggested- Ursh would have been totally justified. It was just that she wasn’t what they’d thought. Ursh had been so certain, but she’d been innocent. How could that happen? They weren't the sort to question their own competence, at least when it came to this very specific task of ‘making sure the fiends are very dead’ but, they had to admit, it didn’t exactly feel good to know they could make a mistake like this, trickery or no.
At least they’d apologised. At least Abigail had the whole story now, and not just the awkwardly wrong version the guards had given her. With that earlier version she'd felt a little safer around them, but Ursh would much rather she knew the truth and was afraid, than felt comfortable because of a bunch of lies.
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Post by Thorn on Oct 30, 2019 1:58:14 GMT -5
My other kid! Zazz! Still one of the most thrilling/exhilarating/"AHHH THIS COULD END SO BADLY!!!" moments I've had playing D&D (i.e. being attacked by a much stronger, brainwashed ally while our ship is sinking because said ally blew a hole in it, and I have the only character in the party with no magic item/ability to help him survive all that WHOOOPSSS.) 30. ChallengeSome challenges were a lot of fun. Others, like trying to deter your now quite clearly brainwashed ally, were less so. Zazz would have been a lot angrier at himself for failing to notice River was charmed earlier if he wasn’t currently preoccupied avoiding that giant hecking sword.
Which he wasn’t doing too well at, as it so happened. Zazz backed up against the railing, clutching one shoulder, blood seeping between his fingers.
“River, stop it,” he mustered what magic he could to influence the genasi to snap out of it.
When that clearly didn’t work, there was only one option left. He’d have a better chance in the water than against that blade, after all. Zazz turned and seized the railing. He registered River shifting his hold right before the hilt of the sword crashed against his temple, and his vision exploded into stars and he blacked out.
(Perhaps the fact that River did not kill him, but rather caught and stabilised Zazz and cradled the drow to his chest, would have meant something if he was at all able to register the moment.) Notes:River belongs to my best IRL friendo. These two are a lot of fun to play opposite each other, and she is probably the only person I would trust to not interpret 'stop him' as a command to murder my character with her own.
Anyway we both ship these two, but we also both know I ship them with More Emotion and so she will never stop teasing me with lines like 'and he kinda cradles Zazz to his chest.' Dangit! The next session is the day before my birthday so...we'll see how that all goes. |
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Post by Thorn on Nov 6, 2019 2:32:17 GMT -5
I am a completionist. BUT. We are six days into November and I haven't finished my piece for October 31st's prompt. So instead, I'm writing a quick something with my Cal(a)Mari duo off the top of my head for 31. Reunion. (Mari is a robot, Cal is a mostly-hoomin.) I was missing half my rear leg. I also couldn't feel some of my fingers, but that would be an easier fix. Worst case scenario, there were plenty of models with fingers like mine, but these legs went out of fashion almost a century ago. A pity, really. I was proud that all my pieces still matched.
Cal stood over me, hair billowing in the breeze as she removed her helmet. How long had it been since I last saw her? Five months? Six? What a reunion. At least the screaming had stopped. My attackers had been your average thuggish human idiots, and Cal was a dragon rider. Even minus the dragon, she was a force to be reckoned with, and those who survived hadn't hung around long. Knowing her did occasionally have its perks.
My vision flickered and then cut out entirely. I gave the most overblown, dramatic sigh I could muster through a busted speaker. Cal's boots crunched on the gravel and a hand fell onto my shoulder.
"Can you walk?"
"Hey, nice to see you too," I grumbled. "No. I need all three legs to balance. Also my eyes aren't working."
"Huh. That's difficult."
"It is."
"I can carry you a little way, and Dragon should be here before too long. What are you doing out here, Mari?"
"Are your eyes working? I was out here doing my job."
"That's fair."
Cal tipped me slowly back into her arms. I tried to imagine what the stars would look like, shining bright and beautiful in the heavens above us. Or the sun. What time of day was it? I tried to remember what things had looked like right before my vision cut out, to no avail.
Dang. Was any part of me working properly? I still hadn't figured out what was wrong with my optics- that could take some time- let alone everything else. Why had I come out here alone? Everyone back home had tried to talk me out of it. For a healer, I was pretty stupid.
Cal laughed. I wasn't sure how any of this was funny.
"How is any of this funny?" I thus asked.
"It's nothing. Well, I mean, I saved you-"
"-uhh...?"
"Just give me this one, please. I saved you, more or less, and now I'm carrying you away in my arms like a cool heroic person. It's excellent. You have saved me so many times and now I'm returning the favour but also, I look really cool while doing it. Really cool."
"Well okay, but can anyone currently see you looking this cool?"
A moment passed. "No."
"Truly heartbreaking."
"You're a jerk."
"I'm just stating the facts. But if it means anything, I will absolutely tell everyone how excellent you looked as you saved me from sixty- no, six hundred- heavily armed and highly trained foes. Or whatever."
"Thanks Mari."
(yes, Mari is made of metal, but she's not super tall. Not more than ~4 feet. She can be carried a short way by a stronk person, easy peasy!) |
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