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teeth-cable · 10 months

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Im the CSA victim from UniformedArtists blog and I agree with you 1000% dropping everything Vivziepop.

Like I only watch Helluva even after the shit she's done to see how far it would sink but jesus christ.

You know her just saying the counselor is 18-19 isn't fucking good enough because the show says a different thing.

Like before people bring up the argument counselors can be adults... Most TV shows in media actually have minor counselors and we know Vivziepop doesn't research shit about hell or actual royalty so why the fuck am I supposed to believe Adam or her researched counselor age ranges.

Also nobody should have a twitter to figure out if you did or didn't make a grooming subplot.

You know in Curse of Strahd there's a controversial character Gertruda who 50 (500) year old Strahd is implied to planning take as another bride because of where you find her and in the book it states she's recently a teenager. However as much as I hate this plot line due to trauma I understand why it was added because WOTC portrays Strahd as a piece of shit. Like his goal is to chase down the reincarnation of his brother's fiance throughout time until he catches her, makes her a vampire and possibly brainwash/assault her to make her love him. Strahd is meant to be a gross creep. I as a DM and many other age Gertruda up to 18 because we don't want a pedo plot line and it keeps the predatory nature of Strahd intact.

Barbie seems to be portrayed in a significantly more positive light and her grooming behavior is never called out as a bad thing. Like Moxxie should say something at god damn least since he has morals.

There are so many things wrong with the EP. What gets me is writing has multiple stages, first the person needs to come up with the EP pitch, get the directer or network's approval, finish the first draft, then revisit it for grammar mistakes and continuity, then revise it a few more times for a stronger script, and send it to the directer or network again to approve of filming the finish script and that's not even counting how long animation takes too. So during the process of writing to animating, did no one at SpindleHorse see how weird and problematic the script was? The camp for pre-teens is called, "IWannaKumMore"(Their logo being a cum splat), Millie and Moxxie's human backstories of being siblings then making out at the end was unnecessary because they could have just been good friends whose mothers sent them to the same camp, Moxxie this grown ass adult who pretending to be a pre-teen is acting sexual and wants the kids attention, Millie who everyone else thinks is a young boy is getting sent nudes from kids and adults, and Barbie saying how easy teenagers are to manipulate then flash her ass to a boy is implying she grooms kids.

To be clear, I don't have a problem when a dark comedy make these types of jokes as all as they portray the topics and groomers as bad and show they understand that. SpindleHorse did not, like you mentioned they portrayed Barbie in the positive light and Moxxie never calls out her behavior despite being the voice of reason. In fact the tone of the Barbie's scene was supposed to funny but not in a dark ironic way. I don't understand why the camp couldn't be for college students and the consolers are stated and look like actual adults. Everything about the canon camp is childish and filled with teenagers, it's very uncomfortable to see them in sexual situations. In America the youngest a camp counselor can be is 15 y/o but that changes from states to states so no body has a clue, also with the camp counselor having a pitch voice, Barbie referring to him as kid and teenager and him, not once trying to correct her about his actual age, I'm convinced he was kid but Viv had to age him up for damage control.

I'm sorry if this response is all over the place because I'm having trouble describing my thoughts but the writers are in their 30s, and they saw nothing wrong? The writing for HB has been going down for a while now and it was fun to see how the writing could get worse but never in my years of watching awful shows did the writing get so bad, the writers had to resort to terrible jokes about sexualizing teenagers, making an incest joke, and a minor getting groomed unironically. I can't support a person or company that are fine making content like that.

"Unhappy Teenagers" was the first time, I have watched a show and felt a sinking feeling in my gut so much so it still lingers even a day later. I never felt so sick from watching a show and I'm sorry writers and companies think making this type of content and jokes of your trauma and abused experience is okay to do.

#꧁rambles꧂#➥asks #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critical #helluva critical #vivizepop criticism #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism

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palidoozy-art · 2 years

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Last session, in which: the party reunites with Kelogul, has many special guests, and a mushroom man gets dressed up like Strahd. Also actual Strahd makes a cameo appearance but that’s not as important.

The party, trying to find the last piece to escape the woods, headed into the swamp. Their first stop was a friendly mushroom village, where they ran into Kelogul. Trapped there for a little over a month Kelogul kind of... lost it a little bit, dressing up the infinitely patient mushroom folk as various party members. Ellerian helped fix him, and from there Kelogul got to finally meet Kjosev.

Wanting to free himself of being haunted by spirits, he asked Kjosev to perform a ritual utilizing a piece of heartwood they gathered earlier to free himself of guilt. Turns out it involved summoning apparitions of everyone he’s ever wronged and apologizing to them sincerely. The entire party (and me) got thrown for a loop when he requested Strahd to show up, so Kelogul could apologize to him. Strahd showed up because he thought it was funny and he wanted confirmation that the party was still alive and who was with them. The ritual doesn’t really allow a response from him, but at least he knows!

This is continuing a plotline that the player wanted, where Kelogul was gonna go from “angry chaos causing shithead who uses the spirits of people he killed as weapon” to “paladin of the ancients”. Next session the party is gonna try to figure out how to fight Escher. They’re gonna have to get up to a floating city with an anti-magic barrier. Solutions include freeing a two-headed dragon nearby. Should be fun!

Bonus tokens:

Bonus quote I screencapped:

#palidoozy arts #d&d #d&d art #artists on tumblr #art #curse of strahd #cos #player reaction to the comic #'strahd actually looks handsome'

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barovianfinewines · 4 months

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Barovian Folk Tales & Rhymes

“The Vampire Song”

(after “Snow Beast,” by Leslie Fish)

Note: “Snow Beast” is from the Mercedes Lackey filk album Oathbound, arranged and performed by Cecilia Eng, a recording of which can be heard here.

I'm DMing Curse of Strahd and I love trickling out setting information to my players through stories and poems. This was too perfect not to adapt. Kids gotta learn that you can't just let strangers willy-nilly into your house, or they may eat you and everyone you know!!

Children playing in the wood Farther than they know they should Saw a stranger walking near Never stopped to think nor fear Skin like ice, eyes that gleam Things aren't always what they seem Nails too sharp, teeth too long Look for what you know is wrong! “O my dears,” the woman plead “I'm all alone and chilled near dead These woods aren't safe for one to roam Won't you take me to your home?” Stands too still, moves too fast No shadow nor reflection cast Pointed ears, pointed grin Look before you let them in! Despite her cold, unblinking stare She seemed so nice, she spoke so fair Foolish children did not question They forgot a vital lesson Skin like ice, eyes that gleam Things aren't always what they seem Nails too sharp, teeth too long Look for what you know is wrong! They did not wait to find a guard They led her straight to their own yard They did not think to ask their kin They brought her home and let her in Stands too still, moves too fast No shadow nor reflection cast Pointed ears, pointed grin Look before you let them in! Once she was within, surprise! She cast away her human guise Fangs grew long, claws sprang free A ravenous vampire was she! Skin like ice, eyes that gleam Things aren't always what they seem Nails too sharp, teeth too long Look for what you know is wrong! All that night down every street She stalked and slaughtered all she'd meet When sun peeked o'er the ridge too late The town had met a grisly fate Stands too still, moves too fast No shadow nor reflection cast Pointed ears, pointed grin Look before you let them in! For pretty words and pretty wiles Pretty looks and pretty smiles Those folks were slain and scattered all Because they let their caution fall Skin like ice, eyes that gleam Things aren't always what they seem Nails too sharp, teeth too long Look for what you know is wrong! Stands too still, moves too fast No shadow nor reflection cast Pointed ears, pointed grin Look before you let them in!

Note: The vampire "tells" listed in this rhyme are mostly taken directly from 2nd edition Ravenloft sources. In my game, they are mostly allusions to true, valid tells, though reality is of course more complex than the song would make it seem.

In the novel I, Strahd, Strahd disguises his nature by either wearing gloves or trimming down his long, sharp nails, and by combing his hair to cover the pointed tips of his ears, and doing literally nothing else. Yeah, he parts his hair differently and calls it a day. Fwiw at that point he's basically an infant (only in his 90s!) and gives precious few fucks. This is all in concordance with his writeup in Realm of Terror.

Van Richten's Guide to Vampires lists the most notable tells as cold, unnaturally pale/ashen skin (the color of which can be disguised by makeup or magic, or explained away by some rationalization such as chronic illness or an aversion to being out in the sun with the peasants) and the absence of a reflection (in any reflective surface, not just mirrors).

VRGtV takes great pains to note that vampires have teeth nearly identical to our own, perhaps to frustrate genre-savvy players. Realm of Terror, on the other hand, takes great pains to note that vampires (or, Strahd, at the very least) have ~retractable fangs~ which lengthen when "aroused or attacking." So, make of that what you will.

(In the interest of thoroughness, Realm of Terror also waxes quite poetic about Strahd's eyes: "dark and hypnotic, like deep pools with subtle reflections of red light, [which] when he is aroused or enraged... burn like red hot coals." So, make of that what you will. For better or for worse I've got a folder in my head for weird 90s vampire lore that's labeled "arousal.")

#curse of strahd #ravenloft #barovia #strahd von zarovich #barovian folk tales

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frenchy-and-the-sea · 3 months

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Turnabout is fair play!! So tell me about Wyyyyyyyyynnnn~ She's a grave cleric last I heard? Does she have a god? What's her magic feel like?

HEHEHE thank you Milo! <3

And yes, Wyn IS a grave cleric still! Well...sort of. She's like a grave cleric if you made a grave cleric like a warlock. She sort of, uh. resurrected her brother by reaching out to a god (??) of death and offered up part of her own life to bring him back. (And then he came back wrong, and then he wasn't really even her brother anymore, and then he ended up dead a year later anyway, so it was not really a great deal to make in the end. WHOOPS.)

Her current iteration is in a Curse of Strahd game and my DM hasn't had much need for info about whatever entity brought her brother back, so I've been sitting on a homebrew idea for a god (??) that I'll suggest if it ever become relevant. I'm thinking they'll be the Laborer of the Kindly Death, and their tenants will probably revolve around the work it takes to ensure a good death, or at least the best death possible. I'm thinking they'll appear as a common gravekeeper, dour and unkempt but kindly, carrying a shovel coated in grave dirt. I'm thinking their symbology includes spades, mushrooms, moths - you know, a sweeping autumnal theme. And I'm thinking Wyn will subscribe heavily to this after seeing her brother waste away like he did in that last year. She doesn't blame the thing that brought him back after all, not entirely. They told her what the cost would be. They told her what it could mean. She agreed to it. Now she knows that there's work to be done to make a death good, and she's committed herself to helping other people do it so that no one makes the same mistake that she and brother did.

WHICH IS TO SAY, she's a very tragic gal, and her magic reflects that LMAO. She specializes in healing, but it tends to feel a bit draining to both her and the receiver, and feels less like a warmth and more like a numbing while she works. Which, for some things, can be a blessing! But it's not entirely comfortable. Her offensive magics are also often very chill, and tend to be more on the rot-and-ruin spectrum of things. She uses the mushrooms that grow on her horns and tail (a mark from her god) in a LOT of her casting, which her magic responds to by feeling very damp and decaying. Sad wet rat energy for sure LMAO. Except when she gets mad. Her hellish rebuke lives up to its name, because somewhere under the poise and the hard-won ideals, girl is mad as hell at a lot of things.

You wouldn't know, though. Look how sweet she looks! Totally innocent. :>

(Art by @/ryuichifoxe, design by @/floorplanks!)

#frenchy replies #the wyn tag #d&d #oc crap #i need a curse of strahd tag #which is going to be my campaign tag until we get a proper name LMAO #but yeah wyn's god is based in no small part on my experiences with having to put our cat down this last year #and moving in that space in fiction has helped me grieve a little easier #anyway i love her and i love you milo! thank you for letting me blather on about her!

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supportivecircle · 1 year

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i ran a sonic based dnd campaign for a year

my folders on drive and on my desktop are filled with so much crap

we didn’t get to finish it but the campaign document was sitting at around 130 slides and we still had a final stretch to go. it was post metal virus arc by a few months, sonic didn’t come back immediately (in fact he wasn’t sent to the Sol Dimension, he warped to the Twilight Cage. the players who knew Sonic expected Sol Dimension. i robbed their minds. i ROBBED them. THATS RIGHT. DARK BROTHERHOOD WAS BEING WORKED INTO IT. LOOSELY. WE CLOWN IN THIS MOTHERFATHER.) so Amy didn’t step down but Jewel did become her administrator of the Logistics branch of the Restoration, while Amy lead the Security branch.

i made a custom warlock subclass (balance unsure) for wisps patron that had an experimental prototype variable wispon the restoration was testing based off of whisper’s

i pieced together a map of the main continent based off of: tabbing in and out of the sonic forces map screen to get the rough landmass and locations of “zones”; some work people online did to try the same thing; cream’s WRONG map (she says thats north but cuhLEARLY in forces this cannot be the case dear god help me you stYUPID CHILD); and amy’s Restoration map was of no help to me at all because it shows Central City on the coast where Seaside/Sunset would have been, and also on a northern shoreline while barricade town is on the end of an entire peninsula. so i FIXED it. i fixed ALL of it. also there is a small town named Degrassi near the snowline south of Winterburg. because we love Degrassi. make it canon Evan Stanley if you somehow stumble across this. whisper into Flynn’s ear like wormtongue and get this done for me, whatever it takes, because i know you can make it through. maybe name it like Dagrassy. idk you’re the talent not me.

we had started in 2020 and played for two months before taking a year hiatus to play a magical girl campaign in the FATE system. some highlights of the campaign:

at one point early on, a piece of the orbiting ruined Death Egg fell to the earth in an event known as a “Death Fall” and landed on Orchardville. the players got to team up with Whisper to infiltrate it and deactivate the systems onboard controlling the badniks coming out of it. mimic was also there to steal data for starline.

the Bad Guys didnt split up like in canon, instead eggman had been working real lowkey on finding where sonic warped to to finish him off, and starline became better at being a leader. mimic was still doing stealth ops. rough and tumble were given a task of leading bandit activity in the western part of the continent to keep the Restoration busy. honestly, i just didn’t want to think about what to do with the Zeti so they never came up. its a whole thing. probably not well thought out grand scheme but no one asked questions about the Zeti.

i stole the entirety of the death house from curse of strahd but toned it down to just make a spooky haunted house segment near windmill village and i played the instrumental loop of pumpkin hill for at least 30 minutes at one point as ambience.

one of the players had a truck that over time got suped up with upgrades to be a complete wrecking ball with a lightning cannon to shock badniks and an on-board AI the inventor made based off of his boss, Lanolin, named LAN who would activate with the phrase LAN-Online.

the players helped begin the healing of the Green Sand Hill Zone by uncovering the underground main hub Egg Pyramid that had been controlling the Egg Pyramids in Forces and were draining oil out from the earth. they fought Thunderbolt the Chinchilla there, who had been running the operation for Eggman while he was working on his grander plans.

one player was offered a FIST BUMP in the first session by Lanolin and refused cause the character was an old grouch. this stain on their character was never cleaned.

there were several starline’d versions of badniks that appeared the closer they got to his operations. incredibly obvious knock offs with a new color scheme. starline also freaking died by being outplayed by Eggman.

there was a recurring merchant they met in the first city and almost every major city afterwards who was actually a wizard who inherited wealth from their bastard father and decided to open up a series of pawn shops across the world called Thorne’s Tradery (her name was Juliet Thorne). she refused to use offensive magic out of an oath she took, but was doing her best to help the Restoration by supplying their agents (and civilians) with easy access to a fair place to trade and possibly get magic/advanced tech items (not for civilians).

i did what SEGdont and had Tangle and Whisper finally resolve their blatant romantic tension with the aid of the player characters. we stan these lesbian queens. tangle was a monk who had “determination” or something instead of Ki, and whisper was the same warlock subclass as the player character, but a lower level. i never got around to making an amy statblock but she was going to be a battlemaster fighter with some character feat type stuff akin to divination wizard’s portent, and would have focused around giving players advantages/extra actions in combat when not beating stuff with her hammer.

the finale was going to have the entire team go super-mode via chaos emeralds (screw the canon) and fighting a giant invasive monstrosity from the twilight cage threatening to destroy Central City, while Sonic was still dealing with REALITY SICKNESS from his time spent in the cage. they’d have had unique abilities, a theme song on their turn (Endless Possibilities Rockestrate My World version, Reach for the Stars, What I’m Made Of, and Knight of the Wind), and a one-time reaction called “We’re All Counting on You” that would have provided them with an emergency supply of rings from notable NPCs they had bonded with during the game. it was going to be hype.

i was far FAR too lazy to draw my own characters on top of maps and writing everything, so i used a freaking ton of OCs i found online as character pieces. possibly controversial to some, but i never passed them off as my own and knew i’d never be able to draw or show artwork of them in any posts online i made about the campaign cause they aren’t my characters. so unfortunately, i cannot make or post artwork of player character Periwinkle the Pangolin making out with her witch girlfriend Rosaline the Fox. i did make this little guy though: Georgie Greenhorne, the deer, and avid child scout. he has several badges.

anyway decided to finally make use of this account to post something of substance and then probably nothing else.

i also found this old meme i made about one of my player’s Forces OC (the brown dog) and mine, who appeared in the campaign as the CANONICAL BUDDY near the end to fist bump with knuckles. i also have this cursed lanolin with no fluff in the back. check it out. tell your friends.

#idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog #dnd #dungeons and dragons #sonic wisps #lanolin the sheep #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #georgie greenhorne #more tags more #oh you like tags do you? well have all the tags in the world!#sonic campaign #sonic oc #sonic idw #idk which idw tag to use #wait you mean the author came back to add MORE tags?

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nirikeehan · 5 months

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❛ i’ve formed the habit of liking you. ❜ from F. Scott Fitzgerald prompts and 'exulansis n. the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it.' from Obscure Sorrows for Thalia & Metrion

*DEEP BREATH* All right, fine.

For @dadrunkwriting

WC: 2232

CW: Discussion of sexual abuse/exploitation

Also major major spoilers for Metrion's storyline in Curse of Strahd: Twice Bitten if that's something anyone cares about

---

“Metrion? Are you up there?”

Some indistinct mumbling as a reply. Thalia sighs, shifting her weight at the base of the tree. The afternoon is damp — it’s always damp, always overcast in Barovia.

He’s stormed away after an argument. Another argument, the kind that seem to brew out of nowhere and rip the party in two, becoming more and more frequent. The origin point is always absurdly small. This one, it seemed, came from Pravin and Blackwall’s disapproval of certain methods employed to procure supplies in Vallaki. Was it that Thalia’s face was flushed with success, the thrill of some forbidden pleasure? It’s not her fault that she can play off Metrion’s silver tongue so easily, nor that the markup at the Stockyard is so absurd as to drive desperate travelers to employ underhanded means.

Unkind words bandied about, more innuendo than outright accusation. Seniority amid the older men asserted, at which Metrion balks. (He hates authority with a burning passion, Thalia has noticed.) Crude but accurate insults levied, Hawke standing by trying to mediate — and then.

What had Blackwall said?

You seem to enjoy thievery a little too much, my lady. You and your boy whore.

Words aimed to cut, and so they had. Thalia reeled as if slapped, but as she rushed to defend him, Metrion whirled on the heel of his boot and took off.

How dare you, Thalia said.

Blackwall spat in the dirt. Sounds an awful lot like an admission to me.

Well, yes. That’s why it hurts, doesn’t it? Metrion, who will argue about grass being green just to get a rise out of someone he dislikes, has no words against such an accusation. A cultivated accusation, built by a number of incidents, including some off-color jokes, some nervous laughter. (When she’d leaned against him and he’d done nothing — just tolerated her, like medicine. Like someone who hasn’t properly paid for his time. Maker, what has she done?)

She eyes the trunk of the tree. “If you think being up there will stop me, you ought to know I’m quite adept at climbing.”

Silence. Uncharacteristic for him, usually so garrulous. The lad can probably talk his way back from falling off a cliff, Hawke observed at one point. Thalia sighs and grabs a branch, hoisting herself up.

She finds him midway up the tree, nestled in a crook of branch and leaf, staring off at some indistinct point. She is relieved he has not seemed to have broken out the wineskin. This will be much more difficult if he’s drunk, which seems to be a nightly occurrence. Thalia settles at a safe distance, a yard or so away, arranging herself as gracefully as she can on an adjacent branch. He doesn’t look at her.

“It’s sort of nice up here,” she observes, hoping to crack the ice. “Safe from any wandering wolves or undead, at least.”

Nothing.

She sighs. “You’re lucky I’ve formed the habit of liking you, Metrion. You can make it difficult to be your friend sometimes.”

“Right,” he sneers. “I’m the one who’s so bloody lucky.”

Thalia will take venom over silence. “I came to apologize on behalf of my retinue. Blackwall was way out of line.”

Metrion shrugs. “It’s clear what they think of me, ain’t it?”

Thalia bites her lip. Say it isn’t true, Metrion. Tell me he got it wrong. She finds it difficult to breathe. She wants to touch him and make him look at her, but doesn’t dare. “They don’t speak for me.”

“Yeah?” He laughs, though nothing is funny — the small, brittle giggle that makes him sound so young. Younger than her, maybe. He told her once he doesn’t know his own birthday. He swallows, painfully. “Why not?”

She flexes the hand with the anchor, its magic grown so dim and ethereal in this strange realm. If not for the gash on her hand, she’d still be locked away in the Ostwick Circle, a caged bird singing for her supper. Perhaps not so different from a street magician — someone whose livelihood depends on his performance. Her stomach twists. “At the Circle, we supposedly wanted for nothing. Everything was to be provided for us. But it never was, not really. There was never enough of anything to go around. We were fed enough, and clothed, sure, but there’s so much you’d never think would be difficult to get until someone withheld it from you. Extra quills. Parchment. Little trinkets like hair combs. Just… things a free person would never think about twice.”

He’s turned toward her, head cocked slightly, lips pursed. He’s listening. At least there’s that.

Thalia takes a slow breath. “There were rumors, of course. Things a mage could do… favors. For certain Templars. In exchange for special items.” Her hands are trembling. She’s never told anyone this. It has seemed impossible to voice before now. “In a storeroom, usually. Or some back corridor no one used.” She sighs. “They were always men.”

Metrion is looking her full in the face, slack-jawed, gold eyes glittery with an unexpected fury. “And?”

“I couldn’t do it,” Thalia confesses, chest tight. “I thought about it for awhile. Thought maybe I could handle it. Thought it wouldn’t be so bad. But I didn’t want any Templar to know who I was, for any reason. It’s dangerous to be singled out like that. In the end, I wasn’t brave enough.”

Again, that sad, knowing laugh. Metrion averts his gaze. “It’s not bravery, love.”

That’s confirmation enough. Thalia closes her eyes. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing to me? That sounds like a real shit place you were in.” He’s angry, really angry, on her behalf.

“Metrion.” She sighs, exasperated as much as sorrowful. “I don’t mean for this to be about me. I just wanted you to know — whatever circumstances you’ve been in, I understand. And I’m not going to judge you for it.”

Metrion mumbles, “Yeah, well, maybe you should.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Thalia demands, aghast.

“Just that — look.” A strange statement, as he’s looking anywhere but at her. His hand is in the pocket of his oversized leather coat, drawing out the wineskin. “Your story’s very sad, gets me right in me heart. But you were in prison, yeah? Mage jail or whatever. You didn’t have much choice.”

Thalia reaches out and slaps her palm over the lid of the wineskin before he can drink. “And you’re saying you did?”

He meets her gaze, finally. He is quite handsome, in an exotic way, with the olive skin and messy hair and unusual eyes, the elongated incisor tipped in gold. A bit too slight, perhaps, for her tastes, and she’s gotten the sense his eyes linger less on women than on men — but deserving all the same. Her stomach clenches, thinking of people who would see these qualities as a commodity. Who might get angry if he didn’t perform as promised.

He pulls away from her grasp, scowling. “Maybe once I didn’t.” He takes a hefty swig. “But how many times do you have to keep at something before it’s sort of your own doing?”

Thalia looks from him to the wineskin. “There’s reasons why it’s more difficult to stop some things than others.”

Metrion smirks and shakes his head. “You do what you’re good at, you know? I’ve tried other things, don’t get me wrong. We had a real go of it in the shop, you and I. But when the coin’s so easy, and the other hustles are hard…” He shrugs, drinks again. “Your fake warden’s right, is what I’m saying. Guilty as charged.”

“All right. Okay. I don’t care, Metrion. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Thalia watches him sadly. “But you do. I’m not sure why.”

He snorts, affecting the posh accent he saves for marks — and perhaps other sorts, she realizes, anguished. “Grand lady inquisitor and her loyal attendants: the Champion of Kirkwall, a Grey Warden, the most renowned thespian on the inner continent… and this.” He gestures to himself with a sweep of the hand.

“Metrion the Magnificent, celebrated magician and my friend,” Thalia cuts in, stubbornly. “We don’t have to tell anyone the other part, if you’d prefer.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” His voice has taken on a vicious edge. “There is no other part. I’m not that person at all. My name’s not even Metrion.”

Thalia opens her mouth and closes it again. She had assumed all along Metrion is a stage name, but that’s not what he means. “You told me,” she says slowly, “you had a magic act. You were traveling to a new city for a patronage, and then you woke up in the mists.” She swallows hard. “Is all of that a lie?”

“Metrion had a magic act.” He drinks and he drinks. “He was just a lonely old man, looking for company.”

A flash of anger hits her. “Paid company.” Thalia huffs. “Don’t make him the victim in this.”

“And if I stole from him when he was asleep? Took the money, took his cart, took his whole livelihood, so I could have a cover and get out of town? Who’s the victim then?”

“I’d still say it’s you.” Thalia crosses her arms. “You want to talk about choices? It sounds like he had a lot of them, and you had very few. Am I wrong?”

He pauses, glancing sideways at her. “D’you always go out of your way to give excuses for shit people?”

Thalia bites her lip to keep from smiling, in spite of herself. “I’m told it’s a weakness of mine, yes. The problem is, I don’t usually see them as shit.”

He’s quiet for a long moment, his eyes staring, unseeing, at a far distant point. Then he looks at her and the corner of his mouth twitches upward. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you curse, m’lady.”

Relieved, Thalia laughs softly. “I think maybe you’re rubbing off on me, whoever you are.”

“Morninglord forbid.” He joins her in a hesitant chuckle. “’S what they’re scared of, innit? At the end of the day. That my wanton ways will sully you by association. High class fucks always think like that, but they’re often real quick to sneak in the back and pay extra for your silence.”

“I think you’re right,” Thalia says. She leans back against the trunk of the tree and thinks of Blackwall’s smug face, and the way Pravin had sided with him for once. “And they’re jealous,” she realizes. “I’ve relied on them both for so much for so long. That I could have a friend like you… I think it threatens them.”

“Sure it does.” He smirks. “We could have a whole con act going if we wanted. You’re not bad, you know.”

“Neither are you.” Thalia ponders that for a bit. “It might be easier if I was the one who offered you a job, though.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “I’m usually more of an independent contractor, if you catch my meaning.”

“Not that sort of job,” Thalia cries, a little flustered. “I’m just saying. Your skillset would fit what my spymaster is looking for.” Leliana would be impressed, of that she has no doubt — if she could keep Pravin from going apoplectic. “And you wouldn’t have to do— any of that other stuff anymore. If you didn’t want to.”

“You want to hire me as a spy?”

“Why not?” Thalia asks. “I think you’d like Skyhold. There’s a well-stocked tavern there, for starters.”

“All right, now you’ve got my attention.” He straightens, taking a deliberate sip from the wineskin. “One problem, though. We’re in here and your Inquisition is out there.”

“Yeah. Minor obstacle,” Thalia concedes. “It’s nice to think about, though. It’s really beautiful there. When you’re on the battlements and the afternoon sun hits the keep from above the mountains, you can see for miles.”

“Heh, yeah. Never thought I’d miss the sun so much.” The man who isn’t Metrion sighs, stowing the wineskin back into a coat pocket. “I’ll think about it, I guess. Assuming we don’t die here. Or your retinue pulverizes me at the suggestion.”

“I don’t think they need to know about it yet.” Thalia smirks. “Can I ask one thing, though?”

“Maybe.” He shrugs noncommittally.

Thalia clicks her tongue at his cheekiness. “If your name isn’t Metrion, is there something else I should be calling you?”

He goes quite still. “My given name ain’t very flattering. I don’t really like it. Other names have come and gone; I’m not much attached to those neither.” He shrugs. “Metrion’s fine for now.”

“Well, if you think of something better, let me know.” She smiles tentatively.

“You’ll be the first, love.” He leans his head against the tree trunk, closing his eyes.

Thalia chews the inside of her cheek. “I can leave you alone now, if you’d like.” She has to face the others, sometime.

“You can stay,” he mumbles, and for a second she’s not sure she’s heard right, until he peeks at her from behind the trunk between them. “If you want.”

A bit of warmth spreads across her chest, a welcome respite from all this damp chill. “All right.”

She settles into the crook where the branch meets the tree. They sit there for some time, in silence.

#thalia trevelyan #metrion the magnificent #curse of strahd au #i should probably make that first bit a whole scene but i wanted to get to their convo *shrug*#shady besties #this au will never be written in order #but this is the deep shit i can't get out of my head #it's fine it's okay thalia is going to hire metrion and they'll live happily ever after at skyhold #fics #dragon age drunk writing circle

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mr-leach · 1 year

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Curse of Strahd Ask Meme Part 5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Original Post by @mandisawesome

/// SPOILERS AHEAD! ///

Nothing too spoiler heavy but just in case you’re really sensitive to spoilers and you haven’t reached the Old Windmill in your campaign yet, maybe skip this part!

Question 5: Did your party travel with any NPCs?

This one’s probably not a surprise, but we did spend some time traveling with Ismark, seeing as we were asked so nicely to protect him, and all. Of course, none of our characters actually knew each other apart from having barely survived the Death House together, and the four of them weren’t exactly in agreement that they were, indeed, fit for the job in question. Still, they all agreed that someone should protect Ismark on his way to Vallaki, and if they were really the best candidates Ireena could find, then they couldn’t exactly say no.

They didn’t exactly win over Izzy’s confidence for a while (I still laugh when I remember when, some ways into the campaign, Sy blurted out something like “Can you believe we’ve all only known each other for a week?” and Ismark immediately spit out his drink like “YOU DIDn’T KNOW EACH OTHER BEFORE!?”) but at least he’s learning new things about himself, like how to use wizard spells, and how his disinterest in marriage so far might have just be a lack of attraction to women overall, and how WOW, maybe traveling away from home with a group of pretty men/masculine adventurers might not be so bad, actually.

Next: it was only for a short while, but boy did we ever cherish the time our party was able to travel with the adorable Lucian, the little boy we managed to rescue from being eaten by hags and having his bones ground into flour and baked into dream pies. All things considered, he was pretty calm about the whole thing! Mostly grateful to not be made into pie or taken back to his pie addicted parents.

Cinaed came out of his traumatized daze eventually. For now, Lucian is staying at the orphanage in Vallaki, where the party (especially Sy) makes sure to visit him often.

Now I mentioned them earlier but we did indeed steal a twink and we are keeping them forever. Sylras has been an irreplaceable member of our party for a good while now, and even though the party’s efforts to gently teach them how to navigate their emotions and learn right from wrong have been.......well, sub optimal, they seem to like us, so we’ll call that a win.

Seriously need to teach them about self preservation more, though. That or get a kiddie leash for them, or something.

Also worth mentioning is Dolly, who spent a very brief stint as Cinaed’s animal companion. He is a bumblebee bat, and thus Extremely Tiny. Cinaed made him his own bat box to go on our wagon and everything.

“But Leach,” I hear you ask, “why in the world would you trust a bat to travel with your party!? This is Curse of Strahd!!” Well, the answer to that is: Cinaed literally had brain damage when he invited a little injured bat to stay with us. There was an explosion and Cinaed managed to let his temporary amnesia go unnoticed for several hours. By the time anyone reminded him that it was a bad idea to just invite a bat into our wagon for the night, the damage was done. So the party let Schrödinger's bat stay and we all huddled into Dorian’s Tiny Hut for the night just in case Dolly tried to kill us.

He didn’t, and we figured that was evidence enough to exonerate the little fella.

We were wrong, and Dolly stole our shit at the first opportunity, the wee little bastard. Suffice to say the next time we see him Dolly will be punted on sight.

#dnd #d&d #curse of strahd #cos spoilers #bat #bats #strahd meme #ismark kolyanovich #sylras #mandisawesome #inertia-raptor #art

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rahadaddy · 2 years

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Rahadin for the character opinion bingo? *wiggles eyebrows*

If you know me even a little bit, you know that I have strong and passionate feelings about Rahadin von Zarovich and that I think he is a more interesting character than Strahd and that Wizards of the Coast did him dirty in a way that is uniquely horrible and that I Very Clearly have The One True Solution to the problem.

I'm going to take this opportunity to rant.

Rahadin has on average better stats than Strahd. He is an elf, which is empirically as hot as a vampire. He has a bloody, traumatic history. Realistically, people should be fangirling over him as much as they do Strahd, if not more.

But then the official art made him ugly as sin and also decided that he feels no nuance whatsoever as a person (while also heavily implying that yes he does). I legitimately think they made him ugly and not feel remorse about genocide so people would want to fuck Strahd more than they want to fuck Rahadin. That is my conspiracy theory. The writers contradict themselves about Rahadin wherever he shows up so that way he doesn't become the main character.

Like! Seriously! This is a man who has a fascinating history. Look at this.

So Rahadin was a child, who was exiled for having political principles. What are those principles? We don't know. The book won't say. But he is exiled for them and then turns around to help Barov conquer the people who exiled him and Barov made him his honorary son. Which means that Rahadin was a child soldier in canon. He had to have been a child (at least by elf standards) to see Barov as a father figure and for that feeling to be mutual. Already, that's heartbreaking. Does Wizards explore this nuance further? Not really! Not except to say that Rahadin's loyalty has transferred to Strahd and that he served as "one of his generals". Oh and to repeatedly say Rahadin will fight to the death if Strahd is threatened. And also this gem:

He believes in redemption... but he believes in redemption for Strahd, not necessarily for himself, which makes the idea that he wouldn’t/doesn’t feel remorse for those he slaughtered ridiculous and contrary because either he believes he is blameless entirely (then... whose fault is it? Surely not Strahd’s for telling you to do it?) or he is so convinced of his own guilt that he believes he is past redemption. Either way... ouch. It’s worth exploring! I feel like a lot of DMs don’t bother with giving Rahadin that moral complexity. Strahd is their main focus, so he’s the one they give all the nuance to. It’s a choice. I think it’s wrong. I think spreading your nuance around gives you a richer game, more in-depth characters.

Of course, I say this as someone who feels gaslit about the Dusk Elves by my copy of CoS. The timeline feels wrong no matter how I look at it.

Anyways, over the last six months, Rahadin has become integral to my Saturday/Remix group’s dynamic. He’s been given the opportunity to grow into what I envision for him and so much more. I think he encapsulates a lot of my themes about the nature of good and evil in our Barovia. Flawed people make flawed choices, cycles of abuse can and should be broken, sometimes an apology isn’t enough but you should give one anyway, you can always start to be a better person, loyalty can be beautiful or toxic, don’t be the man your father wanted you to be; be the man your children will be proud of, etc. His romance with our party’s rogue, Scout Crelmer, has been revelatory because I was originally going to use him to hurt her in different ways but knowing what I have queued up for future sessions, I feel like that would be unnecessarily cruel. He’s still learning to function in his found family (this is, what? His third family in his life? Fourth?) and how to relax/take a joke/smile. I love him so much. I don’t write out his trances the same way I do for PCs but I feel like he has enough trances about his failures in this lifetime (especially since meeting the party) that he’s understanding what he’s haunted by. I might mess with him some more there, just because I’m having a blast with trances/dreams.

I think one of the things I’ve done well with him is making sure that he is aware that even though he was a teenager, manipulated by his grown brother, he led the armies to kill the Dusk Elves and he’s sorry. He doesn’t pull “I was a child!” at anyone except Strahd, who put him through that. Other characters (Alek, Kasimir, etc.) recognize it and feel like they let him down that he got so far gone that he would kill so many in his brother’s name. Which lets me explore other questions: what do communities owe to each other? If it takes a village to raise a child, what happens when that village fails? Why are some influences stronger than others?

Rahadin has opened a lot of interesting themes to explore in our campaign and the thing is... it really mirrors the Crelmers, Urlstra, and Trevor well. The Crelmers were orphaned twice and taken in by Jarlaxle’s gang, which isn’t really a family, so who raised them? Who failed them? Urlstra fled her Drow society for the Shadar-Kai and did not find a hospitable home in either place. Who is her village? Trevor was sacrificed and spurned by his own family... so why are they allowed to influence him just as much as the found family he has created in adulthood? The rift between siblings (Strahd and Rahadin, Henry and VV, VT and the Trevors) is an undercurrent in the campaign as well, which lets healthy siblings (the Crelmers, Lydia and Lucian, Ireena and Ismark) shine.

I genuinely can’t fathom playing Rahadin RAW anymore because of all the things he’s added to our campaign with a few well-placed questions. Favorite character award. I love this man.

#ch: rahadin #x. asks #g: saturday

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survivors-of-barovia · 1 year

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6 & 7 (for the Curse of Strahd asks) :)

(that's favourite and least favourite NPCs)

Sonntam (Lady Arisa):

6. I mean, for me that always depends on what is my flavor of the week. It used to be Ireena, Sasha, Richten... right now it's Argynvost, just because he is cute. And a dragon. That always helps.

7. Strahd. I honestly roll my eyes anytime he appears.

Madonna from Space (Paelias):

6. This is a tough question! Honestly, as a player I really love almost everyone because every single NPC has so much character and flavor, even the assholes! But in the end, those the dearest to my heart are the ones my PC is very close with, which are Illyria and Kasimir! But as a player, I find Strahd, Rahadin and Patrina extremely entertaining. Even if my PC hates them. But, you know.

7. I think the most hated NPC among the players is Vargas. For my PC it's Strahd and Rahadin who off'ed his family (rip)

Lokuro (Vincent):

6. Is "all of them! a legit answer <3? To differentiate a bit - I personally (the player, Lokuro) have a weak spot for The Abbot and Clovin. Especially the corrupted angel is my precious darling who did nothing wrong :3 My PC, Vincent, enjoys most the company of his brother Alex (formerly known as Izek) and Ezmerelda (so badass!). With special mention of his slime!friend Giselle who might one day become a real not-a-girl.

7. Vargas. It was a joy slapping killing him, and both I and my PC have zero regret. 11/10 would do it again.

#ask #ask box meme #by: madonna from space #by: sonntam #by: lokuro

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meadowsweets · 2 years

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“ you have a good heart. ” for Ismark

meme | no longer accepting | @stagsworn

Words catch in Ismark's throat and he stares at the other man, mouth struggling to form words, "I-." Who was the last person to say such a thing to him? Stella Wachter, maybe, before she was engaged to Victor Vallakovich and before Strahd had his mind set on kidnapping Ireena-back when the two of them still saw each other more than once in a blue moon. Stella hasn't written to him in months now, though, and Ismark has been to busy trying to keep Ireena safe to go to Vallaki himself to find out what's wrong; yet another person he's letting down, he supposes.

Ismark does not think of himself as good. He is not so far gone as to think he has absolutely no value: he knows that he is strong, that he is a talented swordsman, that he is not unintelligent. Gentler virtues though: kindness, compassion, empathy-they are not lessons Kolyan Idriovich ever attempted to beat into his son, and there are certainly not traits the man had himself, at least not where Ismark was concerned. The people of the village may call him Ismark the Lesser, so sure are they that he's nothing but a pale comparison of his father, but Kolyan's blood runs through his veins; Ismark can see it in the set of his shoulders, in the unkind greyness of his eyes. Goodness does not run in his bloodline.

Yet here is Valas, who is good, Valas who has agreed to do what he can to help free Barovia despite having no reason to care about the people here. Next to him, Ismark feels like a fraud so, so deserving of the cruel nickname his village gave him long ago. Whatever terrible thing has always lived inside of Ismark though, that has always lived inside his family-Valas doesn’t seem to see it. He tells Ismark that he is kind, that he has a good heart-Ismark wants to tell him he’s wrong, but he cannot find the words.

“-thank you.”

#stagsworn #&&. goodbye (meme)#child abuse tw #ismark babe on god we'll get you a therapist

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mx-lamour · 9 days

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(Thought vomit. Enjoy.)

I'm reaching for my MFA. The application asked me to explain why. I couldn't answer. I don't know how.

Introduced to enneagrams, and I'm a 4. The individualist. The "I can't relate, so I convince myself I'm special" one. I don't know how to deal with being different. Special comes with more dismissal than it does affection, at least in my experience.

Ezra is in love with someone who gets him, at least so far. I try to be a hero, but I'm just a child, and I still don't know how people work. We're 30, give or take. Autistic. He looks as radiant on the outside as he is within, but we still wonder if maybe we're just Dorian Grey. Maybe it's still just a façade.

I make people cry. Urge them to feel their heart so I can tear it out of them with piercing prose. Look at this meat. It is not the source of emotion; it's a first responder. Where has it been all this time?

My partner says all life is wrong. That it exists by hurting and consuming others. So why are we so mad at villains, if that's just the way it works?

Alek holds Strahd in his arms.

We carry ghosts.

#drabble #lamour stories #thought vomit

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tea-with-eleni · 2 months

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This week on Curse of Strahd

The wizard gained a level of corruption and also learned where barovia stores its spellbooks. He now has +3 to con and also really likes tormenting people. Also his already-too-sharp teeth are now even sharper. It's fine.

The artificer did math to figure out how many coins he could stuff in his bag of holding.

The party legged it out of the temple. The barbarian claimed the wooden pony statue.

Simultaneously, this happened:

Ludmilla has come to the conclusion that she's been wrong for centuries: Ireena and Strahd are both cursed, they'll never be together, and Ireena will never love him. She's come to love Tatyana over the centuries too and has concluded that she's going to have to choose between Ireena and Strahd. She's chosen Strahd for a long time and gotten nowhere. So now she's going full Team Ireena.

Volenta loves Ludmilla more than she loves Strahd and will always side with Ludmilla.

Ludmilla promised Ireena that she'll never leave her alone in Ravenloft. Strahd will want her all to himself before he tries to do anything to her, so she and Volenta will do their utmost to prevent that from happening. They're still, like, super evil....but even evil has loved ones. Ireena isn't sure what to do with this knowledge.

Ludmilla was persuaded to scry on the party -- specifically, the wizard, who failed his save. The player is getting increasingly paranoid.

She learned that the wizard cut a deal with Vampyr and they've also taken gifts from at least two other vestiges. She tells Ireena, who freaks out.

Volenta is mostly curious. She loves demons, but Barovia isn't attached to the normal planes. They're cut off from the hells and the abyss. All Barovian demons (in my version of things!) come from the Amber Temple's corruption.

Ireena asks if they have a way to get back to the amber temple quickly. Ludmilla reluctantly admits that they do.

Ireena uses Volenta's already obvious interest to convince her to go help the party. She does and immediately goes to mist to keep an eye on things.

(16 stealth vs my party's abysmal passive perceptions? I made a comment about the room developing fog and my players notice nothing.)

The wizard has truesight as part of his dark gifts. He sees her and promptly starts yelling at her. Volenta helps them by trapping the arcanaloth (that they pissed off a few weeks back) inside a magic circle. It works just long enough for everyone to leg it.

The party sets up Leomund's Tiny Hut outside the temple to camp. Volenta, who knows they won't trust her as far as they can yeet her, voluntarily curls up outside the hut. The party notice she isn't dressed in her usual gold dress and horned headband -- if you ignore the red eyes and fangs, she's just in a shirt and pants. She almost looks normal.

The party seems to have accepted that they just have a vampire now.

Now things are getting interesting. The party barely knows Volenta. They know she has some magic. They know she likes demons. They know she talks a bit like if Jester from the M9 were chaotic evil. And that's it! But although she talks very similarly to Jester, that isn't what I've based her personality on. Her personality is much more like Sascha Vykos from Vampire: The Masquerade lore.

Which, uh, yikes.

#curse of strahd #dungeons and dragons #dungeons and/or dragons #volenta popofsky #ludmilla vilisevic #behind the scenes #ireena kolyana #dungeonmaster things

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inquisitorsnappy · 3 months

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Self and Partner from the relationship asks for Cinari? c:

hello!! thank you for asking about cin!!

Self: How is your OC's relationship with themselves? Does your OC like who they are? Is there anything about themselves that they would change?

kinda complicated. more complicated that she probably even registers.

her guardian, vaylin, taught her everything she knows and, as such, is very much why she grew up into such a giving, selfless person that was so willing to give herself up for the sake of others. as such, cinari found herself feeling as though she needed to be useful and help other people to have an value as a person. but vaylin was also a harsh teacher with high expectations that cinari never seemed able to meet. she always seemed to disappoint vaylin. especially when she decided to leave home to do the very thing that vaylin taught her to do. cinari always saw this as a failing on her own part and, despite evidence to the contrary, saw herself as a failure. it's not been until recently that she's considered that vaylin was at fault for her low self-esteem and saviour complex. but that's now left her in a weird spot where she thinks that vaylin was wrong in how she raised her and that she shouldn't have grown up feeling unloved. but she still struggles to feel worthy of the good things that happen to her. she's having a hard time unlearning what vaylin taught her despite knowing that she needs to unlearn it to grow as a person. she thinks she's a failure but part of her is almost screaming at herself to listen to the people telling that she is a good person because she knows, deep down, that they're right.

the thing that'll probably help her work through it all will be to return home and talk to vaylin (she's got other Shit she needs to yell at her about anyway) so, once strahd is dealt with and she's free to leave barovia, her plan is to do just that.

Partner: Does your OC currently have a partner? Multiple partners? How did they meet, and what is that relationship like?

she does! she has two partners; Cain Braun, a shifter paladin, and Durkel Glimmerbelly, a dragonborn bard.

i am gonna put the rest of my rambles for this one under the cut bc i have A Lot to say about these idiots (affectionate)

when cinari first arrived in barovia, she ran into durkel soon after. with neither having seen anyone else for a while since they started their respective journey's into barovia, decided to stick together at least for a little while, travelling to a nearby inn with asher, the other person they crossed paths with near the outskirts of the valley. at that inn, they met lillith, a dhampir that relied on her friend cain to remain safe and undetected by strahd. cain had gone missing and she needed help to find him. she asked cin, durkel and asher for their help in finding him, leading to the four of them staging a rescue. and that was the formation of most of the party, with them meeting eva, the final member of the gang the following day.

it took a while for romance to develop between the three of them. cinari is very oblivious to any romantic feelings that involve her so she didn't realise her developing feelings for either of them for a long time and was very blindsided by the suggestion that they liked her. cain is also pretty oblivious, mainly because he's not actually been in love before cin and durkel. and then by the time durkel was sure of his feelings, the fact that there was something going on between cin and cain was a pretty known quantity within the party and he didn't want to get in the way. but even before cin knew of her romantic feelings, she gravitated towards both of them pretty naturally. durkel's light-hearted, jokey demeanour was a comfort and he was also the only other non-barovian in the party so they were able to talk about the world outside the valley and bond over that somewhat. and cain has a similar sunny-disposition and inherent kindness to her. he also turned to her for advice and insight as discovered his own faith and began his steps towards becoming a paladin, since she herself is a cleric. these three made fast and easy friends.

cain fully realised how he felt after he made a really big sacrifice to save cinari from being turned into a vampire spawn by strahd. when talking to her about it, he blurted out that he loved her. cin asked for time but she did end up realising that she felt the same but also, now recognising what love felt like, that she felt that way about durkel as well. she at this point already suspected that durkel had feelings for cain so she started to hope for a polycule but struggled to know when was the right time to say anything. durkel ended up confessing his feelings for both of them when a puzzle required someone to reveal a secret. cin spoke with durkel about it, telling him that she felt the same and they agreed to speak with cain. and then she got captured by rahadin and taken to strahd in ravenloft so that was kinda put on hold until they saved her. during the time she was captive, though, cain and durkel talked. so by the time they saved her, they were a thing and so it was just a case of bringing cinari into that relationship once she was safe.

the three of them are very protective of one another which, isn't surprising from cinari; she has always based her whole identity and self-worth on her ability to save the people around her so it's no surprise that she'd do anything for the sake of her boyfriends. but they have also helped her learn to stop and take time for herself as well. before cain saved her from strahd, she didn't think she was worth such a sacrifice but the fact that he went to such lengths made her realise that maybe she was. and whilst obviously she didn't witness it, she's been told about how hell-bent durkel was to save her when she was captured (he was lashing out at people, refused to sleep, refused to wait for the others). and both of them have been very doting as she recovered from these events. through their actions, they've basically told her that she is worthy of love and it's okay for her to be the one that needs help sometimes. it's a lesson she's still learning but it's safe to say they've had a very positive impact on her life and sense of worth. the events of the last several sessions have been Very Rough emotionally and cinari has felt very, very low but she's found a lot of comfort in her relationship with cain and durkel and even just the simple knowledge that she is loved, something she hasn't felt in a very long time.

ask me about cinari!! (question list | askbox)

#thank you for asking!!!#cinari #cinari/durkel/cain

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madammayh3m · 1 year

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Day 3: The One Where Literally Everything Goes Wrong

This one took course over two sessions that had us two players screaming “what the fuck” at the end of them both. The stakes have officially been raised, and Thais thinks it’s stupid that this is what did it, but at least we met a hot lady. As always, spoilers for the Curse of Strahd module, largely around some NPC secrets and fun things like that.

During the ritual, Thais notices that it seems like the Abbot has practiced this beforehand, and is putting on a show of some kind. Ilya is “returned to life” and Dimitri and Anna take him back inside. As the Abbot leaves, seeming pleased with his turn of events, he invites them to visit him up at the Abbey if they would like to speak with him. After he leaves, Thais and Ferrin look around some and notice that some of the older graves seem to have been disturbed somewhat recently.

Ferrin and Thais decide they will stay another day in order to speak with the Abbot, and decide to earn their keep by taking care of some of the Krezikov’s household chores. While they are doing this, a villager comes by to notify Anna that a woman in Krezk is about to give birth. Anna takes on the role of a “priest” during the birth, as opposed to asking the Abbot to be present. The two women are invited along because it’s considered good luck for there to be many people present at a birth. The birth goes smoothly, but the baby does not cry, and Ferrin notices that the midwife seems disappointed by this. She asks the midwife if there was anything wrong, and the midwife reveals not only that the baby was born without a soul, but that only 10% of Barovians do have souls.

The two decide to go up to the Abbey and speak with the Abbot about what he knows about the mists surrounding Barovia. Before they go up, Dimitri gives them a letter stating that he is in the Abbot’s debt for resurrecting his son. The Abbey is essentially turned into an asylum for those who have gone mad walking through the mist. They meet a mongrel-folk named Otto who takes them to go see the Abbot. While they wait for the Abbot to return, Ferrin drops a copper into the well in the middle of the courtyard, alerting the creature that lurks inside, which attacks them. The Abbot quickly interrupts the fight and invites them inside to talk. They learn that they’re very fortunate to not have experienced any negative effects from traversing the mist. They also learn that the Abbot believes that he can clear the mists over Barovia by sacrificing something to Strahd to make him happy – he has been training a young woman, Vasilka, to be Strahd’s bride. He asks them for a favor, to acquire a wedding dress for Vasilka, as the wedding is set to take place in a few days’ time.

After a tour of the Abbey and meeting a Vistani woman named Ezmerelda, who is immediately suspicious of Thais and also a total badass monster hunter with a burning hatred for Strahd, the two sit down with the Abbot who asks if they have any other questions for him. Thais, taking a chance, reveals her face to him and asks him if he knows her, which he denies. He becomes suspicious of her and she tells him what she knows. It turns out the Abbot is also balls to the wall crazy - he claims that she has been sent by the Morning Lord to become Strahd’s bride, as the fact that she has died, come back to life, been outside of Barovia, and still found her way back is absolutely unheard of. Ferrin tries to dissuade him from this line of thinking, but he brushes her aside, instead tasking her with telling Dimitri that he will be calling in the favor – Dimitri is to acquire the wedding dress, and Ferrin will help.

Thais is taken away by Vasilka to bathe and Ferrin goes to collect her and Thais’ belongings. Ferrin warns Dimitri of what has happened, and he promises not to stop them while they escape, but that he owes the Abbot and cannot directly interfere. Ferrin also asks him if he has ever heard of a woman named Vasilka, which he denies. Ferrin quickly returns, and while Thais spends the day being attended to by Vasilka, Ferrin goes to see if Ezmerelda would be a potential ally in their flight (and also has a gay sparring session with her). Ezmerelda, like Dimitri, indicates that while she won’t directly help them, she won’t get in their way. They also learn through Ezmerelda that Vasilka is a construct, not a resurrected woman like they initially thought.

They decide to wait for Vasilka to sleep before making their escape, but as it turns out, Vasilka doesn’t sleep. Ezmerelda casts a spell on Vasilka and tells her to go pick some flowers, and then rolls over and pointedly pretends to go to sleep. The two escape the building proper but are caught by Otto, who goes to notify the Abbot, and the two run down the cliff using Ferrin’s Spider Climb ability and into the woods. As they run, they see a bright flash of light and something winged take off from the Abbey. They continue deeper into the woods towards one of the only places they know the name of – Yester Hill.

However, during their flight they are ambushed by a battalion of zombies. The zombies kick their collective ass, but Strahd sends in direwolves to save the day. However, even with their assistance, Ferrin is knocked unconscious and Strahd himself appears and feeds her some of his blood to revive her. Thais barely manages to keep from attacking him, instead getting in between him and Ferrin. He reveals that he has been taking notes on Ferrin’s condition, and offers to make her a copy of them. He again reiterates that she is welcome to visit any time before leaving. The two camp for the night.

#things are getting dicey #curse of strahd #glorious goth girl adventures #GGGA Recap #ocs #Thais Vennoa #Ferrin Bonemarrow #GOD when Strahd showed up on the turn order we both fucking screamed #when Strahd gave his blood to Ferrin the DM pulled Ferrin's player into a private call for like #five minutes #and it was the longest fucking five minutes of my life #generally one day tends to take place over two sessions give or take and both of these sessions were A Fucking LOT to take in #just constant lore drops and stakes being raised and weird shit happening #it gets crazier though so buckle the fuck up

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