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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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OCs as animals Tag

I was tagged for this one by @mariahwritesstuff. This one sounds like fun, so I'll keep this train going.

No Pressure Tags: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice

Rules: Choose any Oc/s and pick an animal that relates to them and why. You can also include images or drawings of your own but don't have to.

I'll be taking some of the cast from Fangthane's Folly for this one because they need a bit of love. Under the cut to save folks' dashes. Also to warn for bugs, cockroaches and snakes because some people just don't want to see the pictures (don't worry I'll pop the warnings in the tags too for anyone that needs to filter for them).

Meredith: It took a while but I finally settled on a Jack Russel terrier. Meredith is a loyal sort and I was loathe to use a dog for her just because of that, but she's tenacious and adaptable so these little fellows do actually fit her remarkably well. Jack Russels are also very stubborn and vocal, both of which are traits Merri shares with this loveable breed

Yoruk: Again, Yoruk is a very loyal individual, but is much more reserved and quiet than his wife. He is hard working and dependable though and very gentle at heart (though he will give as good as he gets if push comes to shove). For these reasons I'm going with the Clydesdale horse for him

Jotunn Raganarsson: As the High Priest of Moradin for Fangthane, Ragnarsson is a very hard-working man. He is very patient and kind, which leads many to suspect he's a bit of a pushover. This is very far from the truth, however. Ragnarsson is a dwarf's dwarf and incredibly stubborn when the situation calls for it. It might seem a little stereotypical, but I'm going with the Highland Cow for Raganarsson

Now for our antagonists. I love all animals, even the ones seen to be icky and evil and I know they have their good qualities. Nevertheless I cannot in good conscience leave the bad guys out of this.

Ionah Copperheart: Ionah is a smart woman. She knows what her connections can get her and uses them to the utmost to get what she wants. She is sneaky and conniving and puts on a façade of gentility to cover up the fact that she's an evil, narcissistic witch. With all that in mind I'm actually going with the Preying Mantis for her. Mostly because of the amount f patience she has to have given the people she's working with.

Skalrd Firetome: More traditionally cunning and duplicitous, Firetome worked his way up the ladder legitimately and hid his true intentions and nature for several centuries before finding the perfect opportunity to strike. For this reason I'm going with the traditional snake for him. More specifically the cottonmouth, or water mocassin, as this snake gapes as a defensive mechanism, which goes with Firetome lying to get out of trouble.

Garl Grim(e)beard: Grimbeard is scum. He is the lowest of the low in terms of bad guys. He is ultimately just a lackey with aspirations of greatness. He is not liked by anyone at all and is very clear about what his goals are because he's a terrible liar. He is just very lucky that others can spin his goals for him because he wouldn't be able to get to where he is in the wip otherwise. He is also a coward and just generally repulsive. Now I am going with a stereotype here, so just to put it out there that I think the animal in question is ten to one hundred times more useful than Grimbeard will ever be. Due to his cowardly nature, which hides a strong sense of self preservation. and general repulsiveness, I'm going with the cockroach for him.

#tw cockroaches #tw preying mantis #tw bugs #tw snakes #aquadestinyswriting #oc tag games #fangthanes folly and the anvils fall #meredith gruksdottir #yoruk bloodvein #jotunn ragnarsson #skarld firetome #garl grimbeard #I finally got around to finishing this one #it was harder than it looked

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aquadestinyswriting · 8 months

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A Circle None can Break- Part Twelve

Summary: Selene and Edwin have a small heart-to-heart before heading down to the Hammer and Anvil's barroom to drown their collective sorrows, Firetome finds out an interesting tidbit that will help his own schemes and all the dwarves of Fangthane have noticed that the mountain's unhappy about something as it won't stop tremoring.

Words: 2,487

Warnings: None that I can tell. Enjoy the shippy fluff that's in here.

Notes: I am very pleased to have found out what motivates Firetome to do what he does in Fangthane's Folly and the Anvil's Fall. in the meantime, I need to go give Edwin a hug

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @sparrow-orion-writes, @blind-the-winds, @writeblrsupport, @writeblrcafe

Firetome drummed his fingers on the desk impatiently. It had been hours since he’d sent young Gurrisdottir off to the Archives to find those records for him. True, it the records he was after were probably highly restricted, but surely the Archivers would be happy to help her once she showed them the note he’d given her.

A Shaper? Here, in Fangthane? Either Kherillim had seen fit to Bless a different family due to the apparent doom that was coming for the world, or his was not the only family left in the mount with a connection to the Purged. He would know for certain either way if the girl would just hurry up with those records already!

Firetome’s mind spun with the possibilities. While Gruksdottir had clearly been raised Moradhir, was her family simply low-lying Throffites like his own? If so, then perhaps they could be convinced to join him and his fellows in unseating the Heretical Goldseeker line for good. The High Inquisitor seethed at the old memory that bubbled up to the surface:

“But Da, if Moradin’s not even really from Titan, why do we even have to worship him?” the beardlet protested. He yelped as his father swiftly clipped him around the ear,

“Hold yer wheesth, lad!” the older dwarf hissed, “D’ye want to be taken away, like yer uncle was?” Skarld’s eyes went wide with pain and fear and he fervently shook his head. His father nodded in satisfaction, “Then don’t go around saying such things where folk can hear. All you need to ken is that Moradin overthrew the Goddess that created us and the king and his family agree with Him.”

While Firetome now knew his father had greatly simplified the matter, the fact yet remained that the royal family were responsible for allowing an Outsider God into the midst of the people of Fangthane, no matter how much they now insisted that Throff was still just as revered as their supposed Dwarf Father. He was startled out of his thoughts as the door to his office swung open,

“I finally got the records ye asked for, yer Eminence.” Gurrisdottir’s voice called from the doorway, “I’m sorry it took so long, I had to spend an hour arguing with one of the Archivers, and it took them an age to find the one you were after.” The younger dwarf frowned as she placed the slates onto the desk in front of Firetome, but said nothing as she waited for permission to leave. Firetome smiled at her,

“Thank you very much for getting this for me, Birghe.” he said in his most fatherly tone, “Please don’t worry about it taking so long. Ordinarily I’d ask Vera to get these for me, but she’s out on a training exercise. I’ll have a word with the Archivers and see that this sort of nonsense doesn’t happen again.” The sandy-haired Acolyte bowed deeply,

“Thank you, sir. Do you need anything else?” she asked. Firetome shook his head,

“No, thank you, Birghe, you’re free to return to your duties.” he said, “Please pass on my apologies to Sister Imraksdottir for keeping you away for so long.” He gave the younger woman another indulgent smile as she bowed again, then walked out of his study. The smile dropped from his face the moment she closed the door behind her,

“I suppose I’d better keep an eye. I don’t need Ragnarsson questioning why I’m even after these.” he muttered, sliding the protective slate to one side and peering at the family tree that was now laid out before him. The High Inquisitor’s eyes slid up from the bottom, tracing the line from Gruksdottir herself until he noticed a name familiar to him from his grandfather’s stories,

“Well now. I wonder how long the Church was going to keep that little tidbit under wraps.” he murmured, stroking his beard as he stared at the dotted line that had been crossed through between ‘Merewin Stonespeaker’ and ‘Ragnar Goldseeker’. “Looks like I need to ask the Record Keepers some questions.” Smiling to himself, Firetome pulled out a drawer and picked up the winged eye necklace from it,

“If all goes to plan, then Fangthane will be ours by the end of the year, my Lord. Then we can finally oust the Usurper Gods from this world for good and reinstate the Natural Order.” The necklace grew warm in his hands,

Firetome’s smile fell, what a disappointment. He nodded,

Well done. However, do not rely on the help of the Shaper girl. She has been too corrupted by the Usurper to be useful to our cause. Be careful around her.

“Of course, my Lord.” he murmured, gently placing the necklace back in the drawer and locking it. He glanced back at the Record on his desk. Well, if nothing else, he had evidence that King Jotunn’s decree hadn’t entirely wiped out the Redhammer heritage from Fangthane. Oh what a delight it would be to throw that in His Majesty’s, and the Church’s faces. Satisfied, Firetome returned to the paperwork he’d abandoned upon getting the news about Gruksdottir, feeling much better about his chances.

Edwin grimaced as he watched Selene throw her belongings into her personal Bag of Holding,

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't help any more." He sighed, "Will you be alright to make it back to Toreguarde alone?" He asked. Selene huffed out a stressed sigh,

"Getting back is the easy bit." She said, her voice strained, "The hard bit is going to be telling everyone else that there's nothing I can do about the Seal, aside from hoping for yet another Divine Intervention. At least I've got time to organise a full evacuation for when…" she trailed off, shaking her head and gulping down her emotions.

Edwin his fingers over his brow. Selene didn't need to finish her sentence. He knew full well what would be coming the minute the Seal failed entirely. Gods damn it all, why was king Storri being so damned stubborn? The cleric felt the floor under his feet vibrate, a low dangerous growl emanating from the earth below. While he was no devotee of Moradin or Throff, he'd lived in Fangthane long enough to know what such a thing portended. He cautiously laid a hand on Selene's shoulder, his heart squeezing painfully at her dejected slump,

"While His Majesty is being unreasonably stubborn, I believe that his mind can, and will, be changed." He said softly, "Don't give up entirely. Not yet." He said, his voice soft. Selene leaned back into the touch, shuddering out another sigh. She looked up at him with a small, fragile smile,

"I'll try." She said, "If he does, can you let me know? I'd rather know if I need to call off any evacuation efforts than take the risk that he won't, or will leave it until the last possible moment." Edwin nodded,

"Of course I will." He said, squeezing his old friend's shoulder. Selene leaned her head against the cleric, briefly closing her eyes,

"Thank you." She murmured. Edwin resisted the sudden urge to kiss the woman's forehead. Where had that even come from? He settled for hugging her instead,

"No matter what happens, I will be here any time you need me." He told her, "Even if you get told I'm busy, keep insisting. I'm not leaving you to face this alone." The cleric's resolve hardened as Selene nodded. He couldn't, and wouldn't, allow disaster to befall anyone else. He'd already failed Alexis and Fai. He wasn't going to fail Selene. Edwin felt oddly disappointed when Selene finally broke the hug,

"Sorry, I should be getting on with this." She said with a half-hearted chuckle, "Don't want His Royal Pain In The Ass sending over his kingsguard to kick me out." Edwin shook his head to clear it,

"I seem to recall you saying he was giving you another day." He pointed out, "At least stay until morning, Snorri and Gruk are going to be right upset if you leave without saying goodbye properly." His heart skipped when Selene snorted, looked back at him and smiled,

"I suppose it would be a bit rude to up and leave without having a few pints for the road." She agreed, "Let me just make sure I've got everything, then we can head down to the bar."

Archlector Vanskleig sighed as he felt the floor under his feet vibrate violently. While he was of a mind to march up to the palace to give the young king of Fangthane what for following his little tantrum at the meeting earlier that day, the wrath the mountain was channelling was not Moradin's. It was Throff's. The elderly dwarf settled into his armchair and picked out another biscuit from the box next to him, dipping it into his tea to soften it. Best to leave Her to it, he decided, he could help deal with the cleanup after.

Half the mountain was abuzz with rumours that the elemental of Fangthane was getting restless as the tremors continued throughout the afternoon. The landlord of the Elemental's Crack spent most of that time making sure that everything in the pub was utterly secured and couldn't fall off if the Elemental did decide to go for a walkabout.

Gruk frowned as he felt the floor under his feet vibrate again. Despite his father having been a Stonespeaker –one of the best of his generation – the ability had skipped a generation, leaving the smith unable to figure out what in the Pit was going on with the mountain he called home. It didn’t help that the one family member who could hadn’t felt like coming to her uncle’s pub for almost a month. Snorri placed Gruk’s stein in front of him, breaking the younger man out of his reverie,

“What’s on your mind, wean?” The elder Ironforge asked, sitting down heavily in the seat next to Gruk. Gruk snorted,

“I wish ye’d stop calling me that. I’m not even the youngest one.” he protested.Snorri chuckled,

“Well, if Ufgi showed up more often, I wouldn’t need to.” he pointed out, “So, I’ll ask again, what’s on yer mind?” Gruk looked at his older brother incredulously,

“Aside from my youngest daughter stressing herself out to the hells and back, the fact that we ken that, unless she gets out there to help, that we’re gonna have another Demon War on our hands and now the mountain’s complaining about something and neither of us can tell what in the Pit’s wrong with it?” he replied, ticking off each issue on his fingers. Snorri shrugged,

“Well, I think I can help with the last one.” he said, “Word in the vein from the Stonespeakers that’ve turned up here rather than risking the Crack is that summat’s gone and upset it. They can’t say what because, apparently, it’s talking nonsense and no one can figure it out, but that seems to be the general gist.” Gruk scoffed,

“Da probably would’ve figured it out hours ago.” he said bitterly, “Knowing our luck it’s because that damn Seal’s already given way.”

“Given I haven’t had any panicked Scrys sent to my personal mirror in the last hour or so, I very much doubt it.” Selene’s voice stated from behind the two dwarven men. Snorri grinned at her,

“Well, that’s a relief, but it still doesn’t answer the question of what the hells is up with the mountain.” The ex-slayer’s face fell when he noticed the pack lying at Selene’s feet, “Ye’re leaving already?” he asked. Edwin grimaced as he joined the group at the table, two pint glasses already in his hands,

“His Majesty has decided that he’s had enough of our visitor and is giving her until tomorrow to pack up and get out.” he sighed, placing the glasses on the table. Gruk’s frown deepened further,

“What, did ye insult his honour or summat?” he asked. Selene shrugged and necked half her pint before answering,

“He started it.” she replied shortly. Snorri slowly got up and sent his brother a look,

“I’ll go get Reggie to deal with the bar tonight.” he said, “I’ll be right back.” Gruk cocked his head as he returned his attention to the Grand Magus and the Abouna,

“What even happened?” he asked, already dreading the answer as the vibrations in the floor became stronger. Selene downed the rest of her pint, huffed a stressed sigh and spent the next ten minutes informing the increasingly outraged smith of what had transpired in her meeting, quietly leaving out the location of the God Clay at Edwin’s suggestion.

“So, in summary, I’m free to go get the godsdamned clay if I feel like it, but His Majesty will be damned if he’s going to actually help.” she finished. The whole pub had stopped to listen into the wizard’s rant the moment it had started, after all such rants were normally extremely entertaining. This one, however, had not been. Right as voices started to rise in protest, the floor jerked violently once, then fell still, causing the voices to die almost immediately. Edwin, who had been leaning on the table, shaking his head as he listened to Selene’s rant, shot upright, jolted from his thoughts as a shock of divine power rippled through the magical weave. A dozen other dwarves followed suit seconds after, most of them lower level clerics and paladins of various faiths. Selene, looked around the room, frowning as she felt a smaller ripple in the weave,

“What was that?” she asked, a pit of dread building in her stomach. Edwin shook his head,

“I’m… not sure.” he admitted, pulling out his Holy Symbol and muttering a prayer to it. He sighed in relief when Galana immediately answered his call, a soothing river of warmth filing him from head to toe.

My sister’s taking care of things.

Edwin blinked. It was rare for Galana to give him any direct messages, especially one as short and straightforward (yet still frustratingly vague) as that. He shrugged at the perplexed look Selene was giving him,

“Apparently Throff’s taking care of matters.” he said, “I’ve no idea how.” he added as Selene opened her mouth. The wizard grimaced,

“Well, at least it’s something.” she grumbled. She glanced over to Gruk, who was frowning into his stein, “You alright there Gruk?” she asked.

Gruk peered into his beer as though it held any answers to the questions that now ran through his mind. He was no cleric- he hadn’t once felt the Call like Meredith had, and he had never had any inclination to get involved with the divine in any way, shape or form-and yet he knew he’d felt something at the same time as all the clerics and paladins had. His stomach twisted uncomfortably right as the doors of the Hammer and Anvil were slammed open.

#aquadestinyswriting #writeblrcafe #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #selene frigidwake #edwin goodwin #gruk ironforge #snorri ironforge #skarld firetome

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aquadestinyswriting · 6 months

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A Circle None Can Break: Part Thirteen

Summary: His Majesty is brought into the Royal Vaults to see the message left for him there. He sends his Kingsguard to find the thief and vandal responsible, only to have a heart to heart with the Archlector

Words: 2,332

Warnings: None that I can tell. Let me know if I'm wrong

Notes: Second to last chapter folks! This has been a journey and a bit. The message being referred to can be found at the end of the Flash Fiction entry A Mother's Wrath

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @sparrow-orion-writes, @blind-the-winds, @writeblrsupport, @writeblrcafe

King Storri glared at the moulded runes on the wall of the Royal Vault. He sniffed and turned to the captain of his Kingsguard,

“Do we have any idea how the culprit even got into the vault?” he asked lightly. Captain Bloodvein stroked his beard thoughtfully, mulling the question over,

“Not yet, Your Majesty. All we know so far is that the doors weren’t forced open and none of the guards, or any of the rest of the staff, have seen anyone skulking around the palace.” he replied. The taller dwarf glanced at the runes on the wall. They had been too perfectly moulded onto the surface to have been the work of some random thief and vandal. He cleared his throat as his king fumed,

“Your Majesty, perhaps we need to consider the possibility that this was not the work of a mortal being,” he ventured warily, “The Vault has been thoroughly protected from all manner of teleportation magic and the runes are confirmed to be physically present and, by all accounts, appear to be part of the wall. The language used is also indicative of-” he was cut off as Storri raised a hand,

“I will confer with the Church with regards to this message, Captain. However, if the disappearance of a potentially sacred or heretical artefact was the work of the gods, then how do you explain that?” he asked, pointing to a scuff mark on the floor next to the shelf and a faint footprint next to it. Captain Bloodvein heaved a sigh and nodded,

“I’ll send out a search party for the individual responsible at once, sire.” he said, turning to the small troupe of guards he had brought with him, “Broadaxe, Silverhand with me.” he called, starting to lead the two other dwarves out of the Vault, only to be stopped by the appearance of a tall, thin figure in the doorway. The Kingsguard stumbled to a halt and bowed deeply as the Archlector quietly sauntered into the cavern. He nodded to the Kingsguard and smiled,

“Please, don’t stop your search on my account.” he said mildly, stepping aside to allow the Kingsguard to leave. Captain Bloodvein bowed once more, frowning in consternation, but quickly recalled himself and left.

Storri turned stiffly and inclined his head at the sound of the Archlector’s voice behind him,

“Archlector, to what do we owe the pleasure?” he asked. Archlector Vanskleig said nothing as he glided across the cavern, peering at the runes moulded onto the wall his king was standing next to. The elderly dwarf cocked his head,

“It’s curious, don’t you think? That we should be so troubled by earthquakes, and that some random miscreant manages to gain entry into the Royal Vault, of all places, to steal a random sacred item mere hours after you dismissed Lady Frigidwake from the mountain?”

Storri tensed. The Archlector’s voice was soft, gentle even. However, even Storri could not miss the undercurrent in the elderly dwarf’s words. The king turned back to the wall, shaking his head,

“What should I have done instead, Archlector? Sent one of our own out on what amounts to a suicide mission when we are only barely recovering from a disaster that Lady Frigidwake, and her companions, were responsible for?” Vanskleig sighed, leaned on his staff and laid a hand on the young king’s shoulder,

“I just don’t want to see ma people suffer any more.” he murmured. He huffed a sigh and shook his head, “However, I will concede to yer wisdom on this matter. The tablet still needs to be returned, however.” Vanskleig squeezed the younger dwarf’s shoulder,

“I understand your reluctance to get involved, Your Majesty, I do.” he said quietly, “However, inaction on our part will have graver consequences than can possibly be imagined.” He gestured to the runes, “Not a one of us, not even I, can deny the Call of Kherillim or even Dànadas.” he added. Storri hung his head,

“Aye, that it does. So long as yer Kingsguard don’t do anything rash, then there won’t be any further issues.”

Edwin and Selene raced through the streets of Fangthane, Gruk in tow, while Snorri kept the patrons of his bar in their seats.

“What in all the Hells is the lassie doin’?!” Gruk despaired as he skidded around the corner and onto the street leading out to the main entrance to Fangthane. Edwin shook his head,

“It’s not Meredith, Gruk. Throff has had enough and is making a Statement. I just hope we find your daughter before the Kingsguard do.” he muttered. Selene said nothing, guilt squeezing at her heart. While she was more than aware that getting Gruk’s daughter involved in her city’s problems was the Will of the Gods, that didn’t stop her from wishing that there was another way to solve the problem.

~Too bad, there isn’t.~ came Chrackle’s voice in her head, ~Anyway, you’re a bit late. The girl’s surrounded by Kingsguard. Giving you a heads up that she’s very upset so you might want to duck and cover.~ he said. Selene grimaced, realising only now that she could feel the pull of magic towards the front door. She grabbed Edwin and Gruk and pulled them behind a pillar just as a loud Crack! Echoed around the hall. Loud shouts of fear and partial outrage quickly followed suit, along with the muffled voice of a young, female dwarf yelling something. Selene couldn’t make out what the young cleric was saying over the ringing in her ears. She could barely hear Edwin’s swearing. She glanced over to Gruk, who had gone white under his beard. The smith looked up at the human wizard and gestured in the direction of the front door with a determined grimace. Selene shook her head, but Gruk could not be swayed and he snorted, got up and marched out from behind the pillar to confront whoever got in his way first. Selene swept her gaze over to Edwin, who shrugged and got up to follow the dwarven man. The ringing in her ears abated slightly as Selene rounded the pillar, only to find Captain Bloodvein standing next to a wary looking young dwarven girl wearing clerical vestments and clutching a stone tablet in her arms. The Captain of the Kingsguard was waving for the other dwarves with him to stand down as he approached Meredith, glancing up at the doors at the girl’s back. Selene followed his gaze, jaw dropping open at the sight of the huge crack spread across the massive, granite slabs that made up the front door. Selene quickly recalled herself and brought her gaze back to the two dwarves at the foot of the doors.

Captain Bloodvein held up his hands in the most placating manner he could,

“Alright hen, point made. I’m just here to get that tablet and take it back where it belongs.” he said, keeping his voice level. The young woman glared at him, tears brimming in her eyes,

“And I just telt ye that I couldn’t.” she snapped. Captain Bloodvein heaved a sigh,

“I can’t let ye keep it.” he said patiently, “If ye’re worried that ye’re in major trouble, don’t be. I saw the message yer Mistress left fer us. I’m no’ daft enough to get in Her way.” Meredith frowned, concerned,

“Ye swear I’m not in trouble fer this?” she asked. Captain Bloodvein clasped his hand to his chest and bowed his head,

“On my Oath and Honour as Kingsguard, ye have my word.” he said. Meredith’s frown lifted into a look of shocked surprise for a moment, before she grimaced, nodded to herself and held the tablet out,

“I’m not even sure why She wanted me to take this anyway.” she muttered. Bloodvein smiled as he took the tablet from the girl’s hands,

“I’ve got a vague idea as to why, but let’s wait to see what happens next, eh?” He turned around and nodded to the half-incensed, half- worried Gruk, who had stopped in his tracks halfway up the entrance hall, “My apologies, Mr Ironforge, I’m gonna have to borrow yer daughter fer a bit longer. I rather think there are some folk that want to have a chat with her first.” he said, glancing over to Selene, who bowed her head in embarrassment. Gruk snorted, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded,

“Of course, Captain, I’ll no’ get in the way of that.” he agreed. He glanced over to his daughter, his expression softening slightly on seeing the scared and anxious look she was giving him,

“We’ll have a chat with yer mum when ye get home.” he said, “We’ll sort something out. In the meantime, mind yer manners.” he told her. Meredith slowly nodded, a small smile finally gracing her features. Edwin sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

“I suppose you’ll be needing someone to get word back to Snorri and his pub about what’s going on?” he asked, “I dread to think what kinds of rumours are making their way around the place by now.” Gruk slapped the Abouna on the arm,

“Dinna panic, I’m comin’ with ye, ye daft blithy.” he sighed, “It’s not like I want any of those rumours doing the rounds, and I know what’s being said in that bloody taproom.” the smith looked over to Selene,

“You make sure to take care of ma wee girl, aye?” he said, voice stern once more. Selene chuckled and nodded,

“Of course. I’ll, hopefully, see you later. Provided His Majesty doesn’t throw another hissy fit and throw me out immediately.”

“Be an idiot if he did.” Chrackle squawked, fluttering onto Selene’s shoulder, “Already need to repair door. Will need replace if he that stupid.” Selene glanced to the crack in the door again,

“Quite.” she murmured. She waved Gruk and Edwin off and turned to Captain Bloodvein, who had finally managed to coax Meredith down the stairs. The kingsguard quickly created a square around their Captain and his two guests and quickly marched back towards the Palace, making every attempt to keep ahead of the slowly gathering crowd that was congregating near the front doors.

Firetome seethed as he read through the latest report that was hurriedly placed onto his desk. He, and his his master, had both been most pleased when word had reached them of the theft from the Royal Vault. The High Inquisitor had been hopeful that, once the girl had been arrested, he’d be brought in to question her. This latest report, however… He threw the parchment onto the fire with a frustrated grunt. Now that the Archlector had become involved, there was little to no chance of stopping Moradin’s little pet from getting to Toreguarde. He didn’t bother looking up at the knock on his door.

“Yer Eminence, ye have a visitor.” Vera called from the door. Firetome schooled his expression into one of weariness,

“May I ask who it is?” he asked with a resigned sigh. Vera stepped to one side as another, feminine figure appeared in the doorway,

“Thank you for bringing me here dear.” came a familiar, lilting voice, “I believe I can take it from here.” Firetome nodded at the dubious expression on Vera’s face and smiled as Lady Copperheart walked into the office,

“Lady Copperheart, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” he asked, smiling broadly at her. Vera sighed, shrugged and left, closing the door behind her. Ionah waited until she was sure the trainee Inquisitor was gone before she replied, sitting down smoothly in the chair opposite Firetome. She smoothed out her dress,

“It’s recently come to my attention that His Majesty has agreed to have one last meeting with Lady Frigidwake, despite insisting that she leave the mountain earlier today.” she sniffed, “As I understand it, there were some…ecumenical developments that led to his change of heart.” She glanced up at Firetome, “You happen to know anything about that?” she asked sweetly. Firetome huffed a sigh,

“Aye, disappointingly. Apparently Throff Herself saw fit to get involved.” he replied, “T’would seem that our attempts to prevent help from reaching Toreguarde have been thwarted for the time being.” he grumbled. Ionah shook her head,

“Disappointing.” she tutted, “However, we are not entirely out of options.” the noblewoman took out a compact mirror and checked her reflection, “The girl is young and inexperienced and there are rumours afoot about other forces encroaching on Toreguarde, which I’m sure will be more than enough to take care of her.” she added. Firetome snorted,

“Given that she seems to be a favourite of Moradin and Kherillim both, I doubt anything else that wants to throw itself at her will be enough.” he muttered, “I’m of a mind to ask Grimbeard to keep an eye on her. See if he can’t cause her some trouble while she’s there.”

Ionah smiled,

“You speak to dear Grimbeard, and I’ll see what my own connections in the city can do. A word or two in the right ears should be enough to keep her too busy to deal with what she’s there to do.” she said, leaning back in her seat. Firetome grinned at her,

“Well then, my lady, I think we both have rather a lot of work to do. I’ll make sure to tell my Inquisitors to allow you entry whensoever you need to speak to me again.” he added, getting up from his chair and offering his arm. Ionah beamed at him, took the proffered arm and allowed herself to be escorted back to the door,

“Thank you, High Inquisitor. Do endeavour to keep in touch, won’t you?” she simpered. Firetome kissed her hand as he opened the door,

“Of course, my lady. Until next time.” he said. The High Inquisitor watched the noblewoman go, feeling a little better about the situation and returning to his desk to get on with the mountain of paperwork that was waiting for him.

#aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #storri goldseeker #kargun vanskleig #selene frigidwake #edwin goodwin #gruk ironforge #skarld firetome #ionah copperheart

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aquadestinyswriting · 4 months

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Fourteen

Summary: Selene is escorted back to Archlector Vanskleig's personal apartment to have one last meeting with the Low King of Fangthane. In the meantime, Firetome is making plans of his own.

Words: 2,138

Warnings: None that I can tell. Let me know if I'm wrong

Notes: Ok, so the finale is going to have to be split into two parts itself because it'll be about 5k words long otherwise. However I do like where this one went.

tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes , @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @writeblrsupport, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch

It did not take long for Captain Bloodvein to escort his charges back to the Cathedral, only to be met by a small contingent of Hammers, led by Captain Gravelheart. The two saluted one another, with Captain Bloodvein sending his peer a look of confusion. Captain Gravelheart smiled broadly as she gestured to Meredith,

“Apologies Captain Bloodvein, but I’ve been asked by His Holiness to escort wee Gruksdottir to a meeting with him and High Priest Ragnarsson. I was also told to inform ye that His Majesty is awaiting the Grand Magus in His Holiness’ apartment.” Captain Bloodvein nodded, tucking his helmet under his arm as he turned to Meredith,

“On ye go then, hen.” he sighed, “It’s probably fer the best that Ragnarsson tells ye what’s what anyway.” Meredith bowed deeply to him before stepping forward to stand beside the ochre-haired woman, looking far more comfortable in the intimidating woman’s presence,

“Thank you for escorting me this far, Captain Bloodvein, and for your help earlier.” she said. Captain Bloodvein shook his head,

“It’s fine, hen. I’m just glad we could get it sorted out.” he replied smoothly.

Meredith turned to Selene and bowed again,

“Thank you for looking after my faither. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to see ye again when I arrive in Toreguarde.”

Selene nodded, smiling broadly,

“I certainly hope so, though it may not be immediately. I’ll have a lot of work to catch up on once I get back.” she replied, “I’ll try to arrange a meeting as soon as I get word of your arrival, provided His Majesty agrees to this, of course.” she added with a wink. Meredith bit back a chuckle and nodded, bowing again before following Captain Gravelheart around a corner. Captain Bloodvein shook his head then looked to the Grand Magus,

“If ye’re ready then, Lady Frigidwake, I suggest we don’t don’t keep His Majesty waiting.” he stated gruffly. Selene nodded and stepped through the imposing doors of the Cathedral,

“Of course, I’m as ready to be done with this as I suspect he is.” she sighed “Please, lead on.”

~*~

Firetome huffed impatiently as he waited for his Scry to be picked up. What was taking that oaf so long? He looked at the timekeeper on his wall and drummed his fingers on his desk, of a mind to try again the next morning. Just as the High Inquisitor reached forward to dismiss his spell, the fog in the mirror cleared to reveal the annoyed countenance of Inquisitor Grimbeard.

“Ye picked a bad time to check in, ye ken.” the grey-haired dwarf grumbled, “Starhammer’s bein’ a right pain in my arse.”

Firetome glared at the skinny dwarf,

“I don’t much care to hear about Starhammer right now. I’ve got a job for you.” he snapped. Grimbeard blinked, then shrugged,

“Well, go on then. It’s gotta be better than filing a tonne of paperwork fer no reason.” he groused. Firetome snorted and smiled,

“It’s some actual work for once, you’ll be glad to hear. Word in the vein is that His Majesty, in his infinite wisdom, is allowing one of our newest clerics to travel to Toreguarde in the near future.”

“This to do with that rumour about the Seal finally failing?” Grimbeard asked. He smiled widely as Firetome nodded, “Figured as much. The Tower’s been tryin’ to keep that under wraps, but I think the whole city’s heard about their Grand Magus’ ‘holiday’ by now.” he chuckled, “Wouldn’t be surprised if the Chancellor didn’t try to kick her out the minute she gets back. He’s being properly pissy right now from what I’ve been hearing from Starhammer.”

Firetome grumbled, sitting back in his seat with a shake of his head,

“He can try, but I doubt it would work. In any case, I need you to keep an eye on this cleric’s activities after she arrives and get some words in the right ears about her adventuring in city limits. We might as well make that Edict work in our favour.” he said. Grimbeard stroked his beard thoughtfully,

“I can do that, aye. But why, and what’s in it for me?” he asked. Firetome scowled at the other dwarf,

“You don’t need to know the details, and because I said so as your High Inquisitor!” he snapped. Grimbeard snorted, his features twisting into an annoyed grimace,

“Look, I’m only here because our masters want that portal reopened. I don’t owe you any allegiances and I’ve got a bunch of other, more important stuff to be getting on with. So if you want me to keep an eye on this wean, ye better give me the details and pay up for it.” he countered. Firetome groaned, running a hand down his face. This was why he’d been so grateful when Grimbeard had offered to take the position of Head Inquisitor for the Temple of Moradin in Toreguarde. However, he was a shrewd man and clearly knew how to bargain. Firetome glared at him,

“Fine. The lassie being sent your way is there to permanently seal the portal our masters want kept intact. However, she needs an artefact to be able to do so. If you can prevent her from acquiring it, then there’s nothing for us to worry about. As for what’s in it for you, I can fudge the numbers a bit and get ye another pay rise. If ye need more incentive, then I might be able to put in a good word to the Council for ye. See if we can’t get that old Grudge taken care of.” he suggested.Grimbeard smiled broadly,

“Thank you for the details and I’ll take the good word to the Council over the pay rise, ta. I’m sure I can have a word with a couple of folk to stymie the lassie’s efforts once she gets here.” he said, “Did you need anything else while you’ve got me, High Inquisitor?” he asked. Firetome shook his head, rubbing at his temple with his fingers,

“No, Grimbeard, just make sure she can’t do anything with the Seal. Good night.” he grumbled, waving his hand in the direction of his mirror to cancel the Scry. Speaking with that slimy sod always gave him such a headache. A pity that he was too useful to not interact with. Heaving a sigh, Firetome got up from his seat and creakily made his way to the barroom. After all that, he needed a drink.

~*~

Archlector Vanskleig smiled broadly as Selene walked through the door of his private apartment once more.

“I must apologise for making you walk back and forth across our city like this.” he said, gesturing to a seat as far away from where King Storri currently sat as possible. Selene shook her head,

“It’s no trouble. Not when so much is at stake. Besides, I need the exercise. My job normally involves far too much sitting.” she quipped, happily taking her seat. The Grand Magus noted the chastised, if somewhat sullen expression on Storri’s face, but said nothing. Archlector Vanskleig nodded,

“Of course. However, to the matter at hand. I’m sure you’re already more than aware of what Kherillim made of our king’s decision earlier this afternoon?” he queried. Selene nodded,

“It was a little hard to ignore, Your Eminence.” she agreed. The wizard finally glanced over to Storri, whose ears were already flushing with embarrassment. She returned her attention to Vanskleig, “I was also present at the front door when She made Her displeasure fully known through Meredith. I regret to inform His Majesty and yourself of the damage to your front door, but there was little I could do to prevent it.”

“No apologies are necessary.” Storri said, “If anything, the fault is mine, and I aim to do what I can to rectify the situation.”

Vanskleig sat back, while Selene turned her full attention to the Low King, watching the pair of them carefully. Selene shook her head,

“Which situation, Your Majesty? The door?” she sniped. King Storri schooled his expression as he looked up at the human woman. As much as the jibe rankled, he could not blame her for the comment. He inclined his head,

“Well, yes, the door situation is among those that need to be rectified.” he retorted with a small smile, before shaking his own head. “My words and actions this afternoon were out of line, and not in keeping with the demeanour expected of a king of Fangthane. For that dishonour, please accept my most humble apologies.” he stated formally, bowing his head enough for his beard to reach his seat.

Selene wanted to be annoyed with the king, but she felt the flare of anger in her heart guttering out at his words. She closed her eyes for a moment, huffed out another sigh and leaned forward as she opened them again,

“Your Majesty, all I want is for the people of Allansia to be safe. The people of Fangthane included.” she stated, “I’m sorry that the only solution I’ve been able to find is one that seems to have reopened old wounds, truly I am. However, were I to return to Toreguarde without a solution, the city and continent I have wept and bled for will die, and there will be nothing I can do to stop it.” she pleaded. Storri stared at Selene, finally seeing the face of the desperate woman who had watched his father declare war against the demons a scant ten years before rather than the imposing Grand Magus that had walked into the mountain a few days ago. The young dwarf looked down at the floor,

“I heard you say as much before, and regret that I refused to listen. I also regret that it took the intervention of our Beloved Mother for me to see reason on this matter.” he murmured, “While I cannot help you with regards to acquiring the God Clay, I can help by allowing Miss Ironforge to travel to Toreguarde to render what aid she can in the meantime.” he stated, “I have already discussed this with both His Holiness and High Priest Ragnarsson, and we are all in agreement that it will be to the benefit of everyone involved, not least Miss Ironforge herself.”

Selene smiled and bowed her head,

“Thank you, Your Majesty, words truly cannot express my gratitude.” she said. She looked up at the young king, “Again, I do not blame you for your reluctance. Were our situations reversed I believe you would have had as much as, if not a more difficult, time convincing Toreguarde’s Council of your own need for aid.” she shook her head, “It is also not within general human nature to hold long-term Grudges of the sort that dwarves tend towards, so know that no further animosity will be held against you for your words or actions.” Selene smiled softly as king Storri seemed to finally let go of the tension within his body. Clearly this was something he had been very worried about.

Storri whooshed out a long breath as Selene finished speaking. While he did not believe humans held Grudges like dwarves did, he wasn’t sure if the Grand Magus would hold his animosity towards her against him. Now that she had flat-out stated that she did not, he could finally think clearly once more. He nodded,

“Thank you, Grand Magus. All we ask in return is that Miss Ironforge is kept as safe as possible while she is within Toreguarde’s territory. There are many in the Council who will rankle against this decision, and I would prefer to have evidence to refute any claims regarding the people – and Council – of Toreguarde and their attitudes towards my people that may well be bandied around.” he stated. Selene nodded,

“That seems fair, though the fact that the dwarven community within Toreguarde is positively thriving ought to be evidence enough, I concede that the Council may wish to ignore that in favour of their own biases. Gods know the Toreguarde Council is just as guilty of this, despite the best efforts of those who know better.” she added with a mutter. Storri chuckled, running a hand over his beard, making the ornamentations jangle at the motion,

“Perhaps I can persuade you to join me for a small tea time snack before you leave so we can complain about our respective governments?” He suggested, “We don’t often get a chance to air all our grievances, and it will be refreshing to hear from another in a similar situation.”

Archlector Vanskleig smiled and gently rang for one of his attendants as the Grand Magus and his king conversed with one another. Now that the earlier hostilities had given way to casual conversation, he could afford to leave them to it and attend to other matters.

#aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #selene frigidwake #storri goldseeker #kargun vanskleig #skarld firetome #garl grimbeard #meredith gruksdottir

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aquadestinyswriting · 4 months

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Funnily enough, 🍀 right back at you. I'm always really fascinated by the process of creating characters for DnD, mostly because it's collaborative, and idk, at least in my experience, you might start off with a concept, but you're not necessarily going to end with it thanks to DM intervention, haha. Tl;dr, 🍀 for as many characters that are yours and that you're willing to talk about? :D

I am so, so sorry it took this long to answer this Jax. December was.... a month. I am fully back now though and will finally get around to answering this. Question is from this ask game.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Alright, so I will answer only for those OCs I was the creator of and not for those whose lore I expanded upon from the original DM of the campaign. There aren't quite as many as you'd think in all honesty.

Selene: I won't lie. Selene was totally inspired by the character of Evelyn from The Mummy (1999). When I was asked if I wanted to join my then new boyfriend's D&D group, I knew instantly what kind of character I wanted to play since I loved the concept of a character that started out as a librarian going out on an adventure and getting in way over her head since seeing Rachel Weiss play Evelyn in that movie. Of course since Selene was my first ever roleplay character, her personality is still very much a reflection of my own, though it has since been fleshed out quite a bit since she was retired.

Chrackle: What is a wizard without a familiar? I knew I wanted a corvid as a familiar as the typical image is of a wizard with a raven. However, I wanted something a little different and already knew that unlike ravens, magpies could identify themselves in mirrors (animal behaviour classes at uni for the win here). I loved the idea of having a familiar that was a little smarter than average, could speak in a limited manner and could potentially get his wizard into trouble by stealing valuable stuff any time he could get away with it. Chrackle's personality was mostly developed through gameplay and he was much more set in stone by the time that first campaign (for me) ended.

Meredith: Merri was actually kind of inspired by one of my fellow roleplayers. He is a devout Christian, and his mannerisms playing his own clerics during the previous campaign gave me a little bit of insight into how I wanted to play mine. The rest is mostly based on myself at the time and quite a lot more on the person I aspired to be. it helps a little that, while lapsed, my father was brought up Catholic, so I also incorporated some of the stuff he told me about his time as a choir boy and being involved in that community as the DM was quite clear about his inspirations for the Temple of Moradin.

Yoruk: Yoruk was created quite a lot later than Meredith was. At the time, I was writing Meredith's backstory and wasn't sure if I wanted her to already be betrothed to someone before leaving on her adventure (mostly because I was umm-ing and ah-ing about shipping Merri with Elowyn at the time. Talk about the slowest of slow burn potential relationships). Then Yoruk went ahead and introduced himself and his relationship with his mother (who was an npc mentioned by the DM at one point) and I went 'Yes!' (which then, sadly, put paid to the idea of Merri getting with Elowyn at all). I will not lie; Yoruk's relationship with his mother is one that is partially inspired by my own fractious relationship with my mum. Thankfully my upbringing was not nearly that bad, but I did project onto him a teeny bit.

Skarld Firetome: Firetome was heavily inspired by Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (and a little bit by all the huge controversies regarding the leaders of the catholic church that was big news for a while at the time). I needed someone semi-competent in the upper echelons of the Church of Moradin in Fangthane for the plot I was weaving once I took over the reigns of the campaign and those inspirations helped a lot. Hubs then helped me out by pointing me towards the Wordbearers Legion from Warhammer 40k lore, which helped fill out the rest and gave me the idea of Firetome secretly being part of a demonic cult working to undermine the church he purportedly worked for (fuck you, Erebus :P). I am working to fill out what he was up to in the leadup to Fangthane's Folly and adding in hints of him working with Darkhide and the Cabal (which, I acknowledge, we still need to come up with a new name for at some point) to tie the overall story together a bit better.

Vera: The last OC I'll talk about here (or we'll be here forever otherwise) and the most recent OC I've created. I'm not too sure what inspired Vera if I'm quite honest. Or at least what specifically inspired her. It seems like she was inspired by all the 'Strong Woman' main characters in popular teenage fantasy fiction that I grew up reading and watching and that still persists to this day. Of course, since she's technically a background character, I doubt we'll see too many of the stereotypes associated with this kind of character, but you might see a few and I'll try to keep them to a minimum as I work out more of what she's actually about. Needless to say, I wanted a mirror to Meredith that stayed around Fangthane while everything was going down in the background of the campaign events. As a result she's suspicious, but didn't quite know the extent of what was going on until Merri showed back up in Fangthane and got herself caught.

#writeblr ask games #answered ask #aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #selene frigidwake #chrackle #meredith gruksdottir #yoruk bloodvein #skarld firetome #vera darbek

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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Nine

Summary: Firetome has a discussion with Darkhide about the Fireball that went off at the end of the Council session. In the meantime, Ragnarsson pays the Archlector a visit to have a chat about a certain member of the clergy and the Hellmouth situation.

Words: 2,018

Warnings: None

Notes: Finally figured out how I wanted to go forward with this. No mention of Selene in here, but I don't think anyone will mind getting some insight into the other goings on within Fangthane.

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes, @blind-the-winds, @writeblrsupport, @writeblrcafe

Firetome couldn't quite hide his snarl as he strode into his office and slammed the door shut. Whoever had tried to use a Fireball to try and kill or maim the Grand Magus was clearly an incompetent fool of the highest order. The flame haired dwarf threw himself into his seat with an annoyed growl, pulling out the scrying mirror from his desk and waving a hand over it.

"What do you want Firetome?" Darkhide sighed irritably. His hood was down, and Firetome could hear the inquisitive squeaks and yaps of about a dozen kobolds. The dwarf glared at the human man,

"Whatever agents ye've sent up here to spy on the Grand Magus are incompetent buffoons." He growled, "What idiot tries to kill a bloody wizard with a wee, totty Fireball? And in front o' three quarters o' the bloody mountain to boot?" Darkhide's brow furrowed in confusion, even as his eyes narrowed and blazed with indignation,

"All of the spies I have working for me are here giving me their reports." He said, voice calm, "Besides, none of them are capable enough with magic to manage more than a few sparks, never mind a fireball, no matter how small." Firetome snorted and leaned back in his seat,

"Maybe some o' yer Cabal friends got impatient then?" He suggested. Darkhide rolled his eyes and snorted derisively,

"Oh, please." He sighed, "Any member of the Cabal sent in to kill their 'Little Librarian' would have cast a Fireball big enough to kill everyone still in that room when it went off." He pointed out, "The Cabal are hardly in the business of hiring third rate wizards or sorcerers." The human shook his head,

"Given your description of how small the fireball was – and the fact that it was cast in full view of pretty much the entire population of your city – I would surmise that it's merely a disgruntled citizen who took advantage of their only opportunity." Firetome grumbled,

"Fair point." He muttered, "In which case I'll see how this plays oot. Maybe we can turn it to our advantage." Darkhide huffed out an impatient sigh,

"You do that." He grumbled, shutting off the connection and leaving Firetome to stare at his own reflection. The dwarf snapped the casing of the mirror closed, placed it back into the drawer and slammed it closed. He ran a hand down his beard. Were the caster of the Fireball truly a dwarf, then the action constituted an act of war against Toreguarde, and the Inquisitor knew he couldn't afford to have that happen. Not yet anyway.

Then again, the Grand Magus was not here on official business, and she most certainly was not the sort of person to report such an incident back to Toreguarde. Not if she wanted to improve relations between Toreguarde and Fangthane. Firetome relaxed into his seat, tapping his steepled fingers on his lips as he thought. If what the Grand Magus had said was true, and that the God Clay was her last option for sealing up the Hell Mouth, then she would not only need the artefact in question, but a Shaper as well.

A slow smile spread across the High Inquisitor's face. It didn't matter what the woman did, there was no way to permanently seal it. Even if Drakemar gave her the artefact if asked, without a Shaper it was utterly useless to her, and there would never be any ever again. He chuckled, pulling out an iron-wrought draconic eye with wings on either side of it out from under his vestments and rubbing his thumb over it,

"All we need to do is wait, my Lord, then you and your siblings can finally reclaim the world that is rightfully yours."

~*~

High Priest Ragnarsson whooshed out a sigh and dusted down his vestments before knocking on the elaborately carved door in front of him. He was grateful beyond words that whoever had cast the Fireball directly after the council session had been concluded was a less than powerful caster. Had they been any more capable, then Fangthane would have lost the entirety of its council, the Archlector and their king in one fell swoop. Due to this, the whole mountain had been swiftly locked down, with all entry and exit points shut tight so the perpetrator couldn't escape.

The greying dwarf quickly shook his head to clear it of such maudlin thoughts. There were other, far more important matters to discuss. The door swung open to reveal a young woman dressed in the dark green and gold robes of the Archlector's personal attendants. The beardling smiled as she stood to one side to allow the High Priest of Moradin inside,

"Please take a seat, Father Ragnarsson, His Holiness will be with you shortly." She said, bowing low as the older dwarf walked past her. Ragnarsson inclined his head as he stepped into the room,

"Thank you Agnes." He replied, "I don't suppose I could trouble you for a pint of stout?" Agnes curtsied and hurried off into another, adjacent room while Ragnarsson settled himself into the closer of two wingback chairs situated next to a large fireplace.

The Archlector's office was more akin to an apartment. The main office had several comfortable chairs dotted around the space, with two large couches facing one another in the centre. Bookshelves lined every wall, all of them covered in various little trinkets and knick knacks along with many books in nearly every language spoken on Titan. Doors led off to other rooms, one of them a small kitchenette, another a water closet, one that led to the Archlector's bedchamber and one more tucked into a far corner, which led directly to the Contemplation Chamber.

"Your stout, Father." Ragnarsson blinked and looked up at Agnes, smiling as he did,

"Thank ye, hen, it's much appreciated." He said, taking the offered tankard and placing it on the coaster on the arm of the chair. Agnes bobbed her head,

"It's no trouble, Father. Are you well, though? I only ask because you seem troubled." She noted. Ragnarsson shook his head,

"I'm as well as I can be, given the circumstances." He replied, "How fares His Grace?" He asked. Agnes chuckled,

"He is as spry as ever Father Ragnarsson. All His Holiness said on the matter of the Fireball in the Council Chamber was that whoever cast it was, and I quote, 'Clearly not trying hard enough and is a lousy shot'."

"Indeed, I've seen my grandfather throw rocks with more accuracy the day before he passed into Moradin's Hall." An amused voice called from the other side of the room. Agnes beamed as the Archlector shuffled out of his bedchamber, having changed into more comfortable robes. The elderly dwarf motioned for Ragnarsson to remain seated even as the younger man began to rise. He turned to Agnes,

"Be a dear and ask the kitchen staff if they can send a plate of pastries, Agnes. I rather suspect the good Father and I will be here for a while." He said. Agnes bowed low and hurried off, leaving the two men alone in the room. The Archlector sighed as he sat down in the chair opposite Ragnarsson,

"Now then, I think I know why you're here, Jotunn, but can you confirm an old man's suspicions?" He asked. Ragnarsson nodded, made sure his tankard was secure, then leaned forward,

"Of course, Yer Grace. I wanted to know your thoughts on the reason fer Lady Frigidwake's visit." He said. The Archlector nodded, running a hand through his beard,

"Ah yes, to find out more about the God Clay." He murmured, "While I understand that many in the church are reluctant to allow the Grand Magus access to such knowledge, I see no harm in it. After all, she has already pointed out that we cannot allow the Hellmouth to continue to exist." Ragnarsson shifted uneasily,

"Aye, that is true yer Grace, but the fact remains; she'll not only need the God Clay but a Shaper. And the one we have is only barely of age, and hasn't even been trained on how to use the stuff." He retorted. Ragnarsson sat back in his seat and rubbed his temple, "Besides, only Ovaksson and his wife, you and me know about the lassie. If she goes off to Toreguarde with the Grand Magus, then folk are gonna put two and two together and they're gonna start asking some right awkward questions."

“They might, but is that a good enough reason to not allow Gruksdottir to help if she is able?” The Archlector countered. Ragnarsson blinked owlishly at the much older dwarf. The Archlector continued, “I have been in Contemplation since the Grand Magus’ arrival, and I know what Moradin’s thoughts on this matter are.” he paused for a moment and regarded Ragnarsson critically, “Tell me, has the girl spoken of being Called, or having dreams or nightmares about the Hellmouth?” he asked lightly.

Ragnarsson squirmed under the gentle, but firm gaze of the Archlector. While Gruksdotti had never approached him directly, he had heard that she had indeed been having regular nightmares for the last month or so. Ragnarsson had been hoping that it was simply the stress of adapting to becoming a fully fledged cleric so early, but given the circumstances… he heaved a sigh and nodded, not meeting the Archlector’s gaze and staring into the fire instead,

“I’ve not heard if they’re about the Hellmouth, but, aye, the lassie’s apparently been having regular nightmares for the last month or so.” he confirmed. The middle aged man winced as he heard the Archlector’s disappointed tutt,

“Jotunn, you know as well as I that we can’t ignore such things.” the elderly dwarf sighed, “If Gruksdottir’s been Called to assist in permanently sealing the Hellmouth, then there is little we can do to stop her from going.” Ragnarsson returned his gaze to the Archlector and shook his head,

“I know that, but, as I said earlier, the lassie’s had no training on using raw God Clay. It’s no’ right to send her off with well wishes and hoping fer the best.” The Archlector hummed, tapping a finger on his chin,

“That is a bit of a pickle.” he agreed, but he raised an eyebrow, “However, she wouldn’t be able to get the proper training regardless. Fangthane has no raw God Clay for her to begin to practise with.” he pointed out. The Archlector sat back in his seat, relaxed, even as Ragnarsson blustered, “Personally, I have faith that the girl will manage just fine, provided she keeps her own faith in Moradin throughout the trials He’ll set before her.”

Ragnarsson stared at him, eyes wide. Uncertainty gripped at his heart. There was less than a year for Gruksdottir to learn the secrets of the Gift she’d inherited and for her to find and use whatever God Clay remained. There was also the matter of the enemies of the Grand Magus, who likely wanted the Hellmouth to reopen, they would all set their sights on the girl the moment they discovered her involvement. Could Ragnarsson take the risk of having the life of a member of his flock snuffed out before it had truly begun? He startled as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Your concerns are valid, Jotunn.” The Archlector said gently, now sitting on a footstool in front of the middle-aged priest, “However, you must remember that Moradin must have faith in Gruksdottir and her ability to succeed, otherwise He would not be Calling her.” Ragnarsson took in a deep breath and nodded as warmth flooded into him,

“Aye. Aye, ye’re right.” he stuttered, his fear abating, “So, what do we do about the Council’s insistence on not allowing folk to leave the mountain for Toreguarde?” he asked. The Archlector smiled as he stood,

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll come around to changing their minds soon enough.” he replied lightly. A shiver went down Ragnarsson’s spine at the elderly dwarf’s words. Was it his imagination or did the floor under his feet just tremble?

#aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #archlector vanskleig #titan fighting fantasy #jotunn ragnarsson #skarld firetome #darkhide

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aquadestinyswriting · 7 months

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Hey you!

Hope trip went well 🧡️

8) 🧢 CLOTHING: What is your MC currently wearing in the most recent scene of your WIP?

13) 🌸 PERFUME: Describe the setting of your WIP using the five senses.

and cuz I am a sleepy little thing rn:

2) 🛏️ BED: What do your OCs dream about?

Hiya hen, trip was quite up and down. Was ill with the dreaded c-word the first week, but the second week was fun, if tiring. Thank you for the asks :D.

The random generator chose Fangthane's Folly for these questions. Oh boy.

8) 🧢 CLOTHING: What is your MC currently wearing in the most recent scene of your WIP?

In the most recent scene Meredith is in, she's still wearing the vestments she was caught in, because no one's been able to go get her a change of clothes. For reference, the vestments are cream coloured heavy linen with a deep red lining and gold thread embellishments and her stole is the same deep red as the lining of her robes with gold thread inscriptions from the Book of Moradin stitched around the edges. They are starting to look a little grotty by now though since she hasn't really had a chance to change since arriving in Fangthane. She obviously no longer has her armour or mace since those were stripped from her once she was processed and tossed in the cell.

13) 🌸 PERFUME: Describe the setting of your WIP using the five senses.

This is a fun question to get for this WIP in particular since it gives me a chance to describe Fangthane as I see it during the WIP in question.

Sight: During Fangthane's Folly, Fangthane is a lot more dark and grimy, with only the smallest lights visible in the gloom. There's a constant haze in the air obscuring the detail of things off in the distance so you can't quite make out what's in front of you.

Hearing: Distant echoes of water dripping from somewhere, the slow grinding of stone on stone, the ringing of metal on metal from the various smithies of the trading district, the low mumble of people talking in low voices over pints of beer and ale, too afraid to speak too loudly in case attention is drawn to them, the slow tolling of the bell in the cathedral somehow muffled by the gloom pressing in around it.

Touch: rough stone walls, uneven cobbled streets, constant, stifling heat from the forges and the chill of cooler, damper air in the deeper parts of the mountain. The pressure of having a whole mountain above your head, weighing down the air around you.

Smell: smoke and iron, again from the forges, the heady smell of hops and yeast from the breweries and the hundreds of pubs found in a city of Fangthane's size, the smell of damp that seems to permeate the lowest levels of the mountain, the air that's dry is stale. Towards the cathedral it smells a little too strongly of incense and there's a constant, faint whiff of b.o and stale coffee nearly everywhere you go.

Taste: It's a little cliché but Fangthane, at this point, tastes of slightly stale beer and under-seasoned stew or stovies. You can practically taste the incense and hops in the air as well. It all tastes a bit sour and sickly sweet at the same time.

2) 🛏️ BED: What do your OCs dream about?

Answering for all of the OCs in this WIP is insane, so I'll stick with four of them.

Meredith: This was already answered in the story Fire-Hollowed Souls, but to summarise; Meredith's dreams are all a little on the dark and semi-prophetic side. Girl's been getting constant alarm bells from Throff since getting back, so her dreams reflect the warnings the Goddess is trying to send to those even remotely faithful.

Yoruk: Yoruk's dreams for this WIP aren't too much better than Merri's if I'm honest. His are far more normal though, and usually involve being chased by some sort of unknowable evil entity. In some of them he fights back and the dreams become awesome power fantasies. Hooray barely acknowledged childhood and young adulthood trauma?

Vera: Vera's dreams are very ordinary despite the circumstances she finds herself in. They're leaning a bit more towards nightmares at the moment, but that's to be expected. Her most recent dreams, like Yoruk's, involve being chased by some dark, unseen entity.

Firetome: Firetome's dreams are all about him winning and getting the chance to execute King Storri, his family, and all the filthy, filthy Moradhir who have families involved in the genocides following the end of the War of the Red Hammer (which is pretty much every clan in Fangthane, most of his own included, but let's not sweat the details, eh?). At the moment, Firetome is having the time of his life.

#writeblr asks #answered ask #aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #fangthane's folly and the anvil's fall #meredith gruksdottir #yoruk bloodvein #vera #skarld firetome

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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Five

Summary: King Storri broods for a bit before confront Edwin in the Council Chamber about his actions the previous evening. Edwin expects a telling off, but is not prepared for how low the Low King of the dwarves is prepared to stoop.

Words: 2,624

Warnings: None that I can immediately think of. Let me know if there's anything that needs tagging

Notes: not much description or action in this one, but it's more about the character interactions and internal thoughts and feelings of two people in particular. This turned out very differently than I originally thought it would, but I think it works quite well.

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes

King Storri fumed as he brooded in his office next to the Council Chambers. He had not wanted to believe that one of the people on the ruling council of another city state was plotting to assassinate him, but the evidence that had been presented was hard to ignore.He had just come to terms with the idea of having to question one of the most powerful wizards in the world when the Abouna had demanded to see him down in the dungeons, ranting about ‘inhumane treatment of a visiting dignitary’ and ‘an abhorrent case of animal cruelty’. According to Galana’s high priest; the accusations against the Grand Magus were egregious to the extreme and so damnably laughable that the man had all but stated that the whole thing was merely an attempt by malicious, outside forces to undermine the authority of the majority of the Fangthane Council.

The dwarven king inhaled deeply through his nose to calm himself before whooshing it out again. While it seemed relatively unlikely, a similar situation had happened before, and not that long ago. Storri still remembered the deep shame his father had felt upon realising that exiling Dar Ivan from the mountain for daring to tell the dwarves of Fangthane that he’d been chosen by Moradin to wield His hammer had been a mistake. Nargond had been pressured, though admittedly not that hard, by the Council to make an example of what they deemed to be a Heretic of the highest order. Fangthane was still reeling from the consequences of King Nargond’s choice to become a slayer because of that mistake just over a decade later. Was this situation really any different? All the Grand Magus had said was that she was seeking information to help permanently seal up the Hellmouth beneath her city. That was no bad thing. If the Hellmouth could be permanently closed, the peoples of Allansia, the dwarves included, could finally live without the fear of it opening up again.

King Storri shook his head. He could think more on that particular conundrum later. For now, there was the matter of what to do with the Abouna and the consequences he needed to face for his actions the previous evening. While the man was a well-respected member of the Council, his conduct during his ‘conversation’ with the guard could not be publicly condoned. Yes, it was very clear, even to Storri, that the Abouna had likely simply been a conduit of Galana’s power, but that didn’t excuse the Abouna from failing to follow protocol. There was also the matter of what he spoke about with the Grand Magus. Had he told her about the charges against one Alexis Dalliance? Had she told him anything about the woodling’s current whereabouts? If the Grand Magus was unaware of either, it was probably best to make sure she never found out.

~*~

Edwin calmly looked around the Council Chambers, making note of who had decided to come along. Both Auld Derek and Haneskeeper were sitting amongst the other scholars and nobles, quietly chatting to one another. Lady Copperheart, a reasonably recent addition to the Council, glowered at the human, opened her fan and turned to talk to Lord Silverhand, who frowned and nodded. Edwin mentally shrugged and swept his gaze across the large cavern to his fellow clergy members of the various religions that were practised in Fangthane. High Priest Ragnarsson had shown up, along with High Inquisitor Firetome, both of the Church of Moradin. High Priest Stonebridge of the Church of Pelor was sitting next to Father Leadsmith, a lower ranking member of St. Cuthbert who had come in place of the High Priest. Edwin remembered that the old longbeard had taken ill not too long ago, and was apparently on the way out, naming Leadsmith as his successor. Edwin glanced up towards the Royal Box as Captain Bloodvein, dressed in his full ceremonial armour, stepped out of the door and banged the end of his warhammer on the floor,

"All rise," he called, "for His Majesty the Gilded, King Storri Nargondsson, Lord-High Commander of Fangthane, Archduke of Stonebridge, Denheb Iben of Moradin, Diamond of Throff, and Low King of Dwarves in all His Realms and Territories!" Edwin, like everyone else in the room, knelt as the door opened once more and King Storri strode to his seat. He didn’t rise again until he was directly addressed by the young dwarf,

“Abouna Goodwin, d’ye mind informin’ the rest of the Council as to why ye felt the need to breach several prison protocols and demanded my immediate presence in the dungeons yesterday eve?” Storri asked imperiously. Edwin raised an eyebrow as he rose to his feet. Clearly his conversation with the king had ruffled his feathers a bit. The cleric nodded, looking around the vast chamber, which was only half-full for this session, he noted.

“Certainly, Your Majesty.” Edwin replied pleasantly, “It came to my attention, while I was waiting for Lady Frigidwake to arrive at one of the many taverns in the mount, that she had been arrested on what I felt were extremely egregious charges.” Edwin glanced up at the nobles and merchants, searching for those that clearly disagreed with him. He quickly returned his attention to Storri, “As those who were at the Hammer and Anvil yesterday eve can confirm, I was not alone in believing this as both Galana and Moradin saw fit to make their displeasure known.” Edwin paused as a rush of whispering made its way around the chamber. He caught Ragnarsson cocking his head in confusion out of the corner of his eye and gave the old dwarf a slight nod. Firetome snorted and stood,

“I am fairly certain that, were the dwarf father unhappy with the idea of Lady Frigidwake’s arrest, those of us in the cathedral would have sensed it.” he stated, “As it is, neither myself nor High Priest Ragnarsson, or any other clerics in the cathedral at the time sensed a damn thing!” Edwin stared at the flame-haired High Inquisitor, arching an eyebrow,

“Really now?” he asked smoothly, “Are you truly wishing to discount the eyewitness accounts of all forty-six dwarves present in the tavern last night? At least one of whom was one of the Cathedral’s own?” Firetome opened his mouth to retort, but was swiftly interrupted by Captain Bloodvein banging his hammer on the floor again,

“Enough!” Storri called out, “We all have a lot to be getting on with, and I’d rather not be here longer than absolutely necessary.” Firetome glared at Edwin, but inclined his head to the king and sat back down. Edwin turned back to Storri and inclined his head,

“Of course, Your Majesty, forgive me. I just felt it necessary to clarify the situation in the Hammer and Anvil last night.” The king huffed a sigh and shifted in his seat, regarding the cleric in front of him critically,

“Be that as it may.” he groused, “Tell me, Abouna, why do you believe the charges to be so egregious?” he asked wearily. Edwin stood a little straighter,

“Because while it has been more than a decade since our last interaction, I do not know Selene to be a liar.” he stated plainly, “There is also the matter of her being a target of multiple assassination attempts herself, most of them conducted by the remaining members of the Cabal that she and the rest of my former travelling companions were forbidden from pursuing after Toreguarde had been rebuilt.”

“That may very well refute the allegations that she is working alongside the Cabal, but it does not address the rest of the charges.” Storri pointed out, “Fangthane has openly stood against the Drakemari Empire and Toreguarde is not considered to be a part of it. What assurances can you give the Council that the Lady Frigidwake has not been sent here as a spy for either Toreguarde, or for Drakemar?” Edwin nodded,

“Lady Frigidwake told me herself that she wanted to come to Fangthane of her own volition from a location outside of Toreguarde.” he replied evenly, “The letter she sent via her familiar, which only states that she wished to speak with me through a private Scry, does not bear the Toreguarde Seal. If she was planning to come here as a spy for the Toreguarde Council or for Drakemar, then she would not have felt the need to use her personal one in its stead.”

“Unless it was a means to deceive you, of course.” Storri retorted. Edwin froze. While he knew for certain that Selene was not lying about her reasons for coming to Fangthane, he found he did not have a suitable rebuttal. Storri got up from his seat, gesturing for the rest of the Council to remain seated, and leaned on the balcony railing, “Answer me this, Abouna; have ye spoken with Lady Frigidwake about Miss Dalliance?” a low murmur made its way around the chamber. It was well known by pretty much everyone in the mountain that Edwin had been good friends with the now disgraced woodling woman. It was also very well known that he had openly protested against the charges placed against her following the attempted assassination of the king. The murmur died down, all ears intently listening for the Abouna’s reply as the human shook his head,

“I did not get a chance to inquire, Your Majesty. The topic, no doubt, would have been brought up had the Lady Frigidwake been permitted to join me for drinks.” Edwin replied as calmly as he could manage. He grit his teeth. So this was how the Low King wanted to play it? Edwin still remembered what had really happened the night Alexis had escaped, but Princess Garni had been the only other remaining witness and her account had conflicted with his. King Storri narrowed his eyes and raised a meaningful eyebrow at the cleric,

“Alright, then has Lady Frigidwake brought up Miss Dalliance during any of your prior interactions with one another?” he asked. Again, Edwin shook his head,

“No, Sire, she did not.” he said, “Lady Frigidwake was more concerned with finding out how to get rid of the Hellmouth under her tower. No mention was made of Alexis or her whereabouts.”

“D’ye have any reason to suspect that Lady Frigidwake is aware of where and what Miss Dalliance did upon leaving Toreguarde?” The tension in the chamber was palpable. Every dwarf in the room held their collective breath. This was very clearly no longer about the wrongs the Abouna had committed, but an interrogation into what he believed the wizard’s motives to be, and whether he was complicit. Edwin caught Firetome’s satisfied smirk out of the corner of his eye. Of course it would be the Inquisitor making these allegations, he thought. Firetome was conservative, even for a dwarf, and the thought of welcoming outsiders to the mountain went against everything he believed. That included Edwin’s appointment as Abouna and his inclusion in the Council. Edwin reigned in his smouldering anger. There would be time enough to work out how to get around the High Inquisitor later. Edwin leaned on his staff,

“Your Majesty, and the esteemed members of the Council that believe Miss Dalliance to be an oathbreaker and a murderer, and who no doubt also already believe that lady Frigidwake is guilty of the charges brought against her; Alexis told me herself that she left Toreguarde City without even informing Lady Frigidwake that she had done so. Her only communication was a letter left with the wizard’s tower stating that she was leaving- with no information as to where she was going or why- and one other penned under my supervision informing Lady Frigiwake of her then good health.” he glared at the galleries for a moment before returning his attention to the king, “In summary; I have no reason to believe that Lady Frigidwake is at all aware of Alexis’ actions while staying in Fangthane.” Storr regarded the human man for a moment, stroking his glossy, black beard, before nodding in apparent satisfaction and sitting back down,

“Very well.” he stated, fixing Edwin with a hard stare, “In which case, I will make only this demand of you Abouna; Should the topic of Miss Dalliance be breached, even in casual conversation, you are not to inform Lady Frigidwake of any of Miss Dalliances’ actions after she left Toreguarde. Further to this, should Lady Frigidwake disclose any information about Miss Dalliance’s actions following her departure from Toreguarde, you are to immediately inform the Council of whatever information is disclosed.” Edwin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Selene deserved to know what had happened to the erstwhile woodling, where she had gone. To keep that kind of information from her was a huge breach of the trust they all had with one another. Then to demand that he betray that trust further by telling the Council what she knew, even if the wizard spoke to him in confidence? His ears rang as shouts erupted, mostly from the other clergy he noted gratefully, but also many from the merchants. Captain Bloodvein slammed his hammer on the floor repeatedly,

“We will have order!” he bellowed. It took a few moments, but eventually the shouting died down. Storri glared around the chamber momentarily, then returned his attention to Edwin,

“Do you understand these demands, Abouna?” he asked. Edwin glared up at him,

“And if I refuse?” he asked mildly. Storri tilted his head up, the dim light of the few glowstones lighting the chamber catching the many clasps in his beard along with the necklace around his neck,

“Then ye’ll be removed from the Council and yer position as Abouna of the temple o’ Galana and yer status as citizen of Fangthane will also be revoked.” Edwin stared up at the king. So it was either betray the trust of a dear friend or find himself without a church and a home and likely become excommunicated from the organised part of his faith? He looked over to his fellow religious leaders. All of them were staring between the king and Edwin. All but Firetome, who looked all too happy with this turn of events despite the mostly shocked outward appearance. His gaze travelled across the chamber to look at the nobles and merchants. Many of them were shocked at how far the king was willing to go to keep what Alexis had done while she was in the mountain a secret, they didn’t seem very unhappy about it. He felt a gentle, but sad, touch in his breast.

~I’m sorry, Sel. But I’m still needed here.~ he thought, hanging his head in resignation and turning it into a deep bow,

“As His Majesty Demands.” he intoned, his voice flat and wearied. Storri regarded the man below him for a moment, nodded his head in satisfaction and looked around the rest of the chamber,

“As for the matter of Lady Frigidwake, I will request that the High Inquisitor question Lady Frigidwake under a Zone of Truth. Should her stated motivations for visiting our city be proven true, she will be freed and permitted to seek whatever information she requires to seal up the Hellmouth beneath Toreguarde.” There was another bout of murmuring, but no one spoke up, half out of fear of attracting the king’s ire and half because they were ultimately happy with the situation. Nodding in satisfaction, Storri rose,

“Then I declare this session closed.” he stated, sweeping out of the chamber with Captain Bloodvein following close behind. Edwin stared down at his feet as the rest of the chamber emptied, wondering what in the Garden he was going to do now.

#writing #aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #storri goldseeker #edwin goodwin #skarld firetome

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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Six

Summary: Selene's interrogation is finally ended, though she is less than happy with the way she's been treated. Meanwhile, Edwin is consoling a less than happy Gruk about his problems.

Words: 2,326

Warnings: None that I can immediately think of. Let me know if there's anything that needs tagging

Notes: Finally a chapter that's a little bit lighter. Some 'new' characters get their introduction here.

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes

Selene stared impassively at the red-haired dwarven man sitting opposite her. She hadn’t been best pleased to have had to spend the night and most of the following morning in the cell she’d been taken to. Nor was she very happy about the reinstatement of the antimagic field or the fact that she had not been permitted to have Chrackle remain with her. So she was understandably irritated when Moradin’s High Inquisitor started stalling following at least two hours of questioning about her motives for her visit.

“I have answered all of your questions to the best of my ability, High Inquisitor. As you can see, given the Zone of Truth that was cast, I have not been lying to you in any sense of the word. I honestly do not know what else you want me to tell you.” Firetome grumbled a little and huffed out a sigh, looking over the notes he’d been taking throughout the ‘interview’,

“I’m sorry, Lady Frigidwake, I was just trying to make sure that there was nothing I’d missed.” he said. He looked up at the human wizard again, “As it stands, yer testimony has indeed been proven true, so there is no reason fer us to hold ye any longer.” He gestured to another dwarf, a young woman with a dark blonde beard who was clearly in training to become an Inquisitor,

“Vera, be a lass and take the antimagic manacles off the good Lady please.” he requested, gathering up the paperwork and shuffling it together. He stood, backed away a step and bowed as Vera unlocked the manacles around Selene’s wrists and took them away, “I know it probably doesn’t mean much, my Lady, but I do sincerely apologise fer the hassle.” Selene glared up at him, rubbing her wrists,

“‘Hassle’ isn’t even the word for it.” she retorted sharply, before recalling herself and shaking her head, “Please inform His Majesty, that I still intend to speak before the Council because I really don’t have any other choice. The artefact I told you about has been the only thing I’ve been able to find that can possibly solve our mutual problem. Had I any other recourse, I would be quite happy to see myself out of the mountain and never bother you again.” Firetome stroked his beard,

“Are ye happy for me to at least inform His Majesty of said artefact ahead of yer meeting with the Council?” he asked. Selene rose from her seat and regarded the dwarf carefully, mulling his question over. Slowly, she nodded,

“Yes. If only to prepare him for the reaction of what will likely be most of the mountain, never mind the Council, given your reaction to what I said.” she said. Firetome gave her another short bow,

“Very well. In the meantime, I’ll have Vera help you collect your belongings so you can sort yerself out. You mentioned that ye’d be seeking other accommodations?” he inquired. Selene crossed her arms moodily and fixed the Inquisitor with a dark glare,

“Given the manner in which I was treated mere hours after accepting His Majesty’s hospitality, I don’t think it is wise to intrude upon it any longer.” she stated, “I’ll be inquiring about any taverns that have rooms available once I leave.” Firetome sighed and Blessed the wizard,

“In which case, I’ll let ye get on with that. Again, my most sincere apologies fer the way ye’ve been treated. Moradin watch yer steps.” His Blessing given, Firetome swept out of the room. Vera immediately came to Selene’s side, quietly dispelling the Zone of Truth,

“If it helps, my lady, I know of a tavern that would be more than happy to host ye for the remainder of yer visit.” she said. Selene sent the young dwarf a smile,

“Let me guess, the Elemental’s Crack?” she asked. Vera quickly stifled a snort and shook her head, leading Selene out of the interview room and out into the palace dungeons again,

“Och, no. The Crack is right doon the bottom of the residential parts of the mount. I’ll no’ have a visiting dignitary sully themselves headin’ doon there.” the pair of women rounded a corner, “Not that it’s a bad pub or anythin’, it’s just it’s right next to the entrances to the mines and we’ve been havin’ a problem with some unwanted visitors from the underpass comin’ up through that way.” Vera explained. Selene made a quiet ‘huh’ sound,

“I hadn’t realised it was that far down.” she said, “Then again, my last visit to your city was a little too hectic to really parse where everything was in relation to each other. Then there was the fact that half the mountain got up and wandered off for a bit.” Vera snorted, amused,

“Aye, that would throw off yer sense o’ geography.” she agreed, “However, back to the matter at hand; there’s a tavern doon in the tradin’ district whose landlord will likely be happy to host ye fer a day or two. The Abouna is a frequent visitor too.” she added. Selene tapped her chin,

“I think I heard Edwin mention a pub he frequented. The Hammer and…. Something I think.” Vera beamed up at the wizard,

“Aye, the Hammer and Anvil it’s called. The landlord is one of the few Slayers that was accepted back into the mountain after the war ended. His Majesty realised that we just didn’t have enough adult dwarven men left afterwards and issued pardons to any that wanted to come back and help rebuild.” Selene frowned at Vera,

“That was… surprisingly noble of him.” she said slowly, trying to match up her experience of the Low King with what Vera clearly believed was a man of good and noble intent. The pair reached the entrance to the dungeon, where a small troupe of kingsguard was waiting, along with Selene’s things. Vera stopped short of reaching them and shook her head,

“His Majesty is not a bad person, yer ladyship.” she said in a low voice, “But he is very young- barely a century- and a bit afeart of recent events.” she explained. Selene’s frown deepened momentarily, but she lifted it and held out her hand,

“I’ll try to keep that in mind. Thank you.” Vera shook the offered appendage. She continued to watch Selene as the human swept up to the kingsguard, bowed her head politely, took her staff and walked out of the dungeons. The cleric frowned. She had only been working under Firetome for a year, but something about the way he'd conducted the interview with the woman had rankled. Not to mention that he seemed to be as cagey about his questions as Lady Frigidwake had been about answering them until he'd stepped outside the limit of the Zone of Truth spell. Vera shook her head, unless she was permitted to approach the Archlector himself, there was no one she could approach about it. The dwarven woman grumbled, stomping out of the dungeons. After all that, she desperately needed a stiff drink or three.

~*~

The Hammer and Anvil was relatively quiet; the evening hadn’t quite set in yet and the only patrons in the pub were those in the mountain purely for business or those dwarves who worked the night shift coming in for a bite to eat before work. Edwin was glad for the peace, the last two days had been quite stressful enough. The human cleric took a sip of his ale as he considered what to say to his drinking companion, who was sitting directly opposite him, head in his sooty hands,

“You’d be better off trying to speak to Father Ragnarsson about it, Gruk.” he said, “Merri isn’t one of mine.” He added. The despondent blacksmith looked up at Edwin looking annoyed,

“Aye, but I canna get a hold of Ragnarsson.” he protested, “I’ve been trying fer the last two and a bit days, but I keep getting fobbed off!” Another round of drinks was suddenly plonked onto the table between the two friends,

“Ye’ll no’ be gettin’ a meeting with him until our wizard friend is gone from the mount.” Snorri said smoothly, “Word in the vein is that there’s a bit o’ a divide over what the Church’s official position on her is.” The burly dwarf turned his attention to Edwin, “Apparently the lassie’s not long been released, and on her way here. I’ve got a drink here for her already; she good with dwarven made ales?” Edwin beamed up at the burly landlord,

“Thank you, Snorri.” he said, “As far as Selene’s drinking habits go, I’m not sure what she drinks any more, it’s been more than ten years since we’ve been in each other’s company.” he added, “If she doesn’t want the ale, I’ll probably have it and let you know otherwise.” Snorri nodded and pulled out a key from the pocket of his pinnie, handing it to the perplexed cleric,

“I might be making assumptions here, but if yer wizard friend needs a place to sleep fer the rest of her stay, I’ve got a room made up and available fer her.” Edwin took the key, staring at it for a moment, before looking back up at the near middle-aged dwarf,

“Thank you. You really don’t need to go to such trouble-” Snorri waved a hand dismissively,

“I get all sorts passing through, and ye’ve become enough of a regular to get a favour or two.” he replied, “Besides, you and yer friends did more fer us than folk round here want to admit. An’ don’t start on my reputation or anythin’ either,” he added, noticing Edwin opening his mouth again, “This is my pub and I’ll put up who I damn well please.” Edwin looked over to Gruk, who shrugged,

“He’s got a point, laddie. Most of the mount might not like yer friends very much after what happened, but for what it’s worth, there’re still plenty of us who appreciate that we still have a world to live in.” Edwin felt his throat constrict, looking between the two men, grateful almost beyond words,

“I- thank you. Knowing that there are still people who believe in them- in us- makes the current situation a lot easier to deal with.” He put the key into a pocket on his vestments and down the rest of his original drink, “I’d best go out and meet Selene before she gets here. If only to find out how many kingsguard I need to buy drinks for for the rest of the evening.” he sighed. Snorri grunted, getting up as well,

“I’d best get back to it then, the regulars’ll no’ be long in coming in. Ye alright to entertain them Gruk?” he asked. Gruk lifted his tankard towards the two other men,

“Aye, I’ll be alright. I’ll give ye a holler if we need ye.” he said. Snorri nodded and bustled back to his bar. Edwin eyed his own mug, then looked at Gruk,

“Keep an eye on that for me will you?” he said, throwing his cloak over his shoulders and heading to the door, “And I know how much is in it!” he called, not even looking back as he exited the pub. Gruk, who had reached over towards said mug, brought his hand back with a grumble, crossing his arms over his chest,

“He’s been here too long.” he muttered, sulking.

It wasn’t long before Edwin reappeared with Selene in tow. The two humans seemed to tower over the single Kingsguard that had clearly been charged with the Grand Magus’ security. Gruk watched with interest as a magpie flew in over their heads and landed on a rafter above the dwarven smith. The bird looked around the pub, tilting its head back and forth several times before croaking and settling down to rest. Gruk returned his attention to his table, smiling widely as Edwin pulled out a seat for the woman that had joined him,

“Hullo there, lass.” he greeted, holding out his hand towards her, “Gruk Ovaksson of clan Ironforge, right pleased to finally meet ye.” The expression on Selene’s face brightened as she took the hand and shook it firmly,

“The pleasure is mine, son of Ovak.” she replied politely, “Edwin told me a little about you and your family before we came in, it’s nice to put a face to the name.” Gruk shifted and glanced over to the Kingsguard that was now sitting next to him,

“Eh, aren’t you Rabbie’s wee lad? Clan Broadfir, aye?” he exclaimed. The younger dwarf nodded, sheepishly,

“Aye, my da became friends wi’ Captain Bloodvein during the Demon War. The Captain put in a good word fer me when I started training as an Ironguard.” he said quietly, “Look, please don’t make this a huge deal. I’m supposed to be workin’.” he added, glancing around the pub. Gruk clapped a hand on the barely-more-than-a-bearling’s shoulder,

“Don’t worry, son.” he soothed, “I ken ye’re here fer work, I just didn’t expect to see you in that kind of fancy getup.” he said, winking at the boy. Selene stifled a laugh,

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in a community where everyone knows everyone else.” she noted, “I think you can afford to relax a little though Rabbiesson, Chrackle is an excellent lookout, provided he doesn’t get distracted.” she added, sending her familiar a glare of warning. There was an annoyed croak from the rafters, “You’re just mad because it’s true.” she said, picking up the mug that was handed to her and taking a swig from it. Edwin cleared his throat,

“Well, since we’re all here and settled, how about we all take this rare opportunity to actually relax for once?” he suggested.

“I’ll drink to that!” Gruk cheered. His cheer was echoed around the table as everyone finally felt the atmosphere relax and the two dwarves and humans began exchanging gossip.

#writing #aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #selene frigidwake #skarld firetome #edwin goodwin #gruk ironforge #snorri ironforge

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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Four

Summary: Selene has been left to brood in a cell beneath the Palace, in the dark no less. Edwin, in the meantime, has found someone to help him get into the prison.

Words: 2,443

Warnings: Some mild bad language and a teeny bit of animal cruelty. I don't think there's anything else. Let me know if I missed anything

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes

Selene strained to try and look around the cell she had been led to by the kingsguard. It was dry, at least, despite how far beneath the palace she must be. And the cot was comfortable enough to sit on, even if it was made purely for dwarves so she couldn't sleep comfortably on it.

Shock had now given way to a smouldering, indignant anger, but the wizard tamped it down. There was little point in yelling, and she couldn't start lobbing fireballs around even if she so desperately wanted to. The wizard heaved a sigh,

"The least they could do is give me some light. Damn dwarves and their ability to see in the bloody dark." She muttered, closing her eyes and trying to listen to her surroundings instead. There was a distant rumble somewhere above her, the quiet, muffled conversation of the guards outside and a distant dripping sound that echoed off the walls of wherever the leak of water was. Selene shifted, the oppressive feeling of not just almost total darkness, the antimagic field and the mountain above weighing on her, but the fact that she had no idea what the guards had done with Chrackle. The two of them had never spent any time apart like this in the over twenty-seven years they had been with one another. Sure, they often spent several weeks so far apart that they could barely sense one another, but that was always by choice, and a strong enough empathic barrage could be sensed if either one of them was in any danger. Here, however, there was absolutely nothing. Not even the faintest trace of the magpie’s feelings reached her and the feeling was a disquieting one. Her mind flashed briefly to the moment Fai woke up without Mika and the look on his face. While she hoped her magpie yet lived, she wondered if her fellow wizard had felt the same way she did now upon realising that his familiar was gone.

How long she spent brooding over her predicament, Selene didn’t know. All she knew was that the next thing she was properly aware of was muffled yelling outside the door to her cell. She automatically tried to look in that direction, only for the door to be slammed open and a flash of grass-green light to suddenly light up her surroundings. Selene swore loudly in several languages, shielding her eyes, only stopping when she heard a blessedly familiar voice from the direction of the door,

“Oh by the- I’m so sorry Sel. If I’d known they’d kept you in the dark down here, I would have said something.” Selene pried her arm away from her face as the light died down and blinked away the spots in her vision. Silhouetted in the doorframe, like some sort of avenging angel, was the form of her fellow human. Poking a head in from one side was what was clearly an unarmoured dwarf, though Selene did not know who.

“Right, what idiot left the human, the folk that canna see in the dark, without a light source?” the dwarf demanded. Another voice muttered something Selene couldn’t quite hear. The dwarf in the doorway huffed irritably,

“Aye, well, ye’d better go get one then, hadn’t ye?” he stated firmly.

“And where, may I ask, is the magpie?” Edwin asked, his voice light enough, but Selene could tell that the man was only just barely containing his anger. There was more muffled talking, then the hurried sound of footsteps running off to another part of the dungeon. Edwin sighed,

“Haneskeeper, the antimagic field, if you would?” He said, “While I’m sure we’ll get plenty of complaints from His Majesty later, it really isn’t necessary. Besides, the incoming Glowstone won’t work if it’s active.” The dwarf nodded and waved his hand, muttering an incantation in one of the few languages Selene wasn’t familiar with. She smiled as she felt the rush of magic around her again as the antimagic field was dispelled.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I must admit, I wasn’t expecting a prison break quite this quickly. Or is my sense of how long I’ve been in here completely off-kilter?” Haneskeeper made a noise in his throat,

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a prison break, lass. Yon Abouna here was just bein’ very insistent on gettin’ to see ye afore you got questioned.”

“One of the privileges of actually being on the Council.” Edwin stated smoothly, taking the glowstone that was hastily handed to him and walking into the cell. The guard mumbled and fidgeted,

“Abouna, I must request that ye replace the antimagic field.” he said uncomfortably, “His Majesty-” Edwin turned to glare at the unfortunate man,

“I’m sure His Majesty will completely understand that, as a High Priest and a member of the Council of Fangthane, I am merely exercising my right to maintain my connection with Galana while I provide counsel to the prisoner.”

“Aye, but-” the guard stammered, gulping as Edwin’s glare deepened and the wood of his staff creaked ominously,

“Don’t you have a magpie to find?” he asked, a note of terseness finally making its way into his voice. The guard paled under his beard, saluted and scurried off. Selene shook her head as Edwin turned back to her,

“Apparently dwarven memories aren’t quite so long as they like to think. You’d think they would have remembered what happened the last time they pissed you off this much.”

“Oh, we remember, lass.” Haneskeeper piped up, leaning against the doorframe and watching where the guard was going, “It’s just that the current contingent o’ kingsguard weren’t around to witness it the last time.” he pointed out. Edwin whooshed out a breath, calming himself down,

“Right then. First thing, are you alright?” he asked, looking the wizard over with a critical gaze. Selene nodded,

“Aside from being absolutely starving, stiff and tired, I’m fine.” she replied, “I feel much better now I can sense the magic around me again.” Edwin’s eyes narrowed,

“So the next duty for the guard when he gets back is to get you some food and water.” he muttered, “You have any idea how long you’ve been down here?” he asked. Selene shook her head,

“No clue.” she admitted, “Could only be a couple of hours, could be a week as far as I know. It’s a bit hard to tell when I’m cut off from all my connections to the world.” Edwin’s staff creaked again as he shook his head,

“It’s still the same day you arrived, so it’s probably only been about five, or six hours at most.” he said. “Ok, next question, can you get a bead on how Chrackle’s feeling?” Selene closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, then shook her head,

“They must have him in an antimagic cage.” she said, “I still can’t sense where he is or how he’s feeling. Most likely absolutely beside himself with fear and panic. That’s assuming the stress didn’t outright kill him.” she added, her own eyes narrowing at the thought. Edwin laid a hand on her shoulder, a soft green light emanating from it as he did,

“It’s alright, Selene. I’ll deal with it, no matter what kind of state he’s in.” he assured her, “I’m not letting you leave this cell without him.” Selene’s shoulders relaxed as the Calm Emotions spell washed over her. She sent the cleric in front of her a smile,

“Thanks Edwin, that means a lot.” she said.

“Well, good news, the bird looks like he’s still livin’.” Haneskeeper said, watching as the guard came back with a large bird cage containing a still-hooded magpie. The old dwarf frowned as he noticed that the bird’s beak still appeared to be bound. He raised his eyebrows as the guard approached him, saying nothing as the barely more than a beardling slunk past him and entered the cell.

Selene, who had, at first been overjoyed by Haneskeeper’s words, glared at the guard the moment she saw the state her beloved familiar was in. The magpie was still wearing the falconer’s hood she’d seen on him earlier and the too-tight leather thong was still wrapped firmly around his beak. While his wings and legs were now free, the wizard could now make out the rope burns on exposed skin and the missing pinion feathers from where Chrackle had clearly tried to free himself. One of his wings was also hanging limply by his side. Before she could even register everything, she felt a massive surge of power around Edwin. She glanced at him and quickly backed off as much as she was able. All the wood in the vicinity around the cell groaned and cracked, thorns erupting from almost every inch of wood that was in range. The earth rumbled as large vines, covered in thorns sprouted from the ground and whipped the cage from the guard’s hands. The guard yelped and jumped back,

“What the hells?” he asked, voice quavering as he continued backing away from the incensed cleric. Selene, who could now look at the situation with magical eyes, simply stared at the vortex of magic around her old friend,

“I think you pissed Galana off.” she said, her voice filled with the awe of seeing what it truly meant for a cleric to be a conduit of their god’s will. Haneskeeper, for his part, watched with interest, pulling out a pipe and baccy pouch,

“Yup. There She goes. I dunno what ye expected, lad. The Lady o’ the Garden loves animals as much as She does plants. I dinna ken what ye expected, honestly.” The guard whimpered as the vines ripped the cage apart and gently cradled the bird, letting the ruined pieces of metal fall to the floor of the cell with a clatter. Then, with a gentleness that would not be expected from an eruption of power so violent, the vines gently teased the hood off the magpie’s head and cut through the leather around his beak. Chrackle croaked wearily as the vines gently handed the injured bird to Edwin and retreated back into the earth. Selene swallowed thickly as she finally started to feel Chrackle’s emotions again,

~It’s all right, Chrackle, we’ve got you. Edwin’s going to heal you right up.~

~Mistress? I’m sorry. Tried to warn you-~

~Shh, shh. Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better.~

~Couldn’t sense you. I was so worried. Thought you’d gotten killed.~ the magpie rambled. Selene simply concentrated on sending calm thoughts and emotions to the distraught bird while Edwin stroked him, his hands both glowing with a green-blue light as he healed the physical hurts Chrackle had endured. Edwin looked to Selene as Chrackle relaxed in his arms. The wizard nodded,

“Sleeping.” she said quietly, taking a hold of her familiar and holding him as close to her as possible while Edwin rounded on the unfortunate guard who had happened to be on duty,

“I want to see both His Majesty and Captain Bloodvein down here in the next ten minutes.” he growled. The guard gulped and nodded, skittering out of the cell as fast as his legs could carry him. Edwin huffed a sigh and sat heavily on the floor of the cell, running a hand through his hair,

“Sorry about this, Haneskeeper. It would seem that Galana wanted to expedite the process the moment I saw Chrackle.” he said. Haneskeeper shrugged, taking a puff of his pipe and coming into the cell to sit next to him,

“Ah, well, His Nibs can’t do anythin’ about it. He kens fine well that ye don’t argue with the Gods. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up with about half the other High Priests in here in a bit.” he noted. Edwin grimaced,

“Which then begs the question; what members of the Council wanted Selene to be arrested in the first place?”

~*~

High Inquisitor Skalrd Firetome grumbled, sending the messenger on her way with an irritated wave of his hand. He had been this close- this close- to removing the biggest standing obstacle to his plans and the Galanite cur just had to go and ruin it! He leaned back in his seat, running a hand down his fiery red beard, thinking. Ok, so he couldn’t get the wizard ejected from the mountain right this moment, but that didn’t mean that he was entirely out of options. One of his ‘messengers’ currently stationed in Toreguarde had mentioned overhearing that the Grand Magus had found something to help her, but that it required knowledge of an ancient and holy artefact. If he could find out what it was, maybe he could convince the more religious elements of the Council to throw her out on principle alone. Yes, that was probably the best option for now. If all else failed, he could arrange something within Toreguarde itself, but he didn’t want to have to spend the time and energy doing so if he didn’t have to. Perhaps a distraction closer to home was required to allow him the time to get those wheels into motion? Nodding to himself, Firetome pulled out a mirror from his vestments and cast over it, smiling at the hooded, human figure that appeared in it,

“Ah, Darkhide. I trust things are proceeding as you planned?” he asked lightly. The man on the other end of the connection sniffed haughtily,

“About as well as can be expected when you’re working with kobolds.” he sighed, “What do you want?”

“Just makin’ sure ye were still on board. I need those kobolds riled up as a distraction. Somethin’s come up that’s scuppered the original plan.” Darkhide snorted, amused,

“Let me guess? The one human that lives there has decided he needs to intervene?” he surmised, “Very well, my own plans down here aren’t quite done, but I’m sure I can come up with something.” he sighed. Firetome’s smile widened,

“Much appreciated.” he said, quickly closing the connection at the sound of someone knocking on the door to his office. He made sure the mirror was safely tucked away before acknowledging the person on the other side. High Priest Ragnarsson’s head popped around the door,

“Sorry to disturb ye, Yer Eminence, but a full Council meetin’s been called.” Firetome nodded,

“I’ll be right there, I just need to get some paperwork finished.” he said, waving the other dwarf off. Ragnarsson bowed briefly and left, closing the door behind him. Firetome huffed another sigh. There was always something. Oh well, time to try and see what Council members he could influence before the wizard opened her mouth.

#writing #aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #selene frigidwake #edwin goodwin #skarld firetome #chrackle #animal cruelty tw

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aquadestinyswriting · 1 year

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A Circle None Can Break- Part Seven

Summary: Firetome reveals exactly why Selene has come to Fangthane to King Storri ahead of the council meeting. Meanwhile, Selene and Edwin discuss matters between Fangthane and Toreguarde while Edwin stresses out.

Words: 1,639

Warnings: None.

Notes: A short chapter before we launch into the council meeting. The last bit was too perfect to ruin by adding any more.

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes

King Storri leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers in front of his lips as High Inquisitor Firetome spoke,

“I don’t know where she managed to find such information, Your Majesty. While her motivations for visiting us are as she stated, it does seem a little- how should I put it?- convenient that the Grand Magus has managed to procure knowledge of such a rare artefact.” he said. Head Librarian Heimlig, one of the oldest dwarves in the mountain, scoffed,

“Every child on this world knows how it was created, Firetome.” the elderly dwarf stated, “It's no secret the stuff exists.” Firetome glanced at the librarian, pursing his lips,

“Aye, but as far as I ken, nobody but the dwarves even knows that there was any left over after our own creation by Kherillim.”

“Maybe so, but it has ae been rumoured that there were a few pockets of the stuff left in most of the cultures we share this world with.” Heimlig countered smoothly, “We’ve plenty of copies of the manuscripts written by many who have tried to locate them.” King Storri sighed, letting his hands fall into his lap,

“Gentlemen, please, while I would normally be quite fascinated and happy to discuss this at length, we are currently quite pressed for time.” He reminded his guests. He looked over to Firetome, “Given what Derek’s just told us, I fail to see why it would displease the church for the Grand Magus to ask about God Clay. From what you’ve told me thus far, it does not seem like she knows that there is any of it left for definite.” Firetome grumbled and crossed his arms across his chest,

“I got the feeling she definitely knew some existed and has come here to fish for more information about it.” he replied, “It’s likely she thinks it’s stashed somewhere in our God Vault and wants to ask the Council for access to it.” King Storri leaned forward in his seat, raising an eyebrow,

“Well, is it?” he asked. Firetome shook his head,

“While I would be the first to argue against granting the Grand Magus access to the God Vault if we did, I can tell you now, Sire, that we don’t have any here in Fangthane.” Storri frowned in confusion, looking over to Heimlig. The elderly dwarf nodded,

“The High Inquisitor has the right of it.” he said, “From what I can tell from the records held in the library, Fangthane has never held any of the remaining God Clay. Besides, even if we did, the Grand Magus wouldn’t be able to use the stuff. She needs a Shaper to do that.” King Storri grumbled as he sagged back into his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose,

“So we don’t have any God Clay here. We have any idea where any might still be located?” he asked. Firetome and Heimlig shared a look between them before the elder of the two nervously cleared his throat,

“Given that the ability to Shape came from a family that lived in the ancient Hold of Kar’ak Ugor, it’s likely that any God Clay to be found on Titan might still be in that God Vault.” Storri looked up at the librarian wearily,

“And the problem?” he asked, an imperious edge to his voice. Heimlig twirled the end of his impressive moustache,

“The hold is now known as Wyrmholme, Your Majesty.” he replied quietly, “It’s very likely that what the Grand Magus is seeking is now in the claws of an ancient red dragon and guarded by a mountain full of Duregar.”

~*~

Edwin paced around his study. He had just got word that the Fangthane Council had agreed to hear Selene out, which should have been very welcome news. So why did he feel like it was some kind of trap.

“Edwin, stop. You’re making me dizzy and I’m not even the one moving.” Selene said, stirring her tea, “Why are you getting so worked up about this?” Edwin stopped and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her,

“Aside from the fact that half the Council still wants to kick you out of the mountain and lock the door behind them, you mean?” he asked. Selene clucked her tongue,

“That’s hardly the worst thing in the world.” She stated calmly, “Besides, I get threatened with getting kicked out of Toreguarde at least once every couple of months by Chancellor Schreiber, that kind of threat isn’t anything new.” Edwin, who had resumed pacing, whipped his head around and stared at the wizard,

“I-wait. What?” he spluttered, “You haven’t actually-?” Selene held up a hand, cutting off the cleric’s tirade before it could get started,

“Of course not, Edwin.” she sighed, “It’s an empty threat on Schreiber’s part, he knows he can’t actually do it. It would upset Drakemar too much.” Edwin sent Selene a dubious look, but eventually, he nodded and relaxed his posture,

“My apologies. You’re right, your getting kicked out of Fangthane is not the worst thing in the world.” he conceded, “I just wonder what you expect to get out of this now. A lot of people have made it very clear you’re not as welcome as I’d hoped you’d be.” he pointed out. Selene gave the Abouna a thin-lipped smile,

“Because it’s the only option I have left.” she reminded him, “I very much doubt the Council will overlook the safety of all Allansia, themselves included, all for the sake of whatever grudge they’re holding about us accepting Drakemar’s help.” Edwin’s heart squeezed painfully. It wasn’t just that. He wanted so badly to explain to Selene exactly why the king and more than half the mountain distrusted her, but he couldn’t. Not without endangering them both. While the king had only outwardly threatened the Abouna’s position, Edwin knew very well that there were others in the mount who would take the opportunity to solve the problem via other methods should he give them an excuse. Instead, he settled for shaking his head and sitting heavily in his chair,

“You’re severely underestimating how angry the Council are with Toreguarde about that. And how angry the general citizenry are about the losses incurred during the Demon War. Fangthane lost about two thirds of its men because they all took up the role of Slayer and followed King Nargond to their deaths.” he explained. Selene waved her free hand in exasperation,

“We never asked them to!” she cried indignantly, “The only reason the Slayer thing even happened was because Ivan decided to show up to help with the demon thing that came out of Granny Apple despite his Banishment.” Edwin grimaced,

“While that’s true, the Demon War basically started when Old Toreguarde fell into the hellmouth, right? Once word reached Fangthane about the hows and whys…” he trailed off, trying to find the right words to explain why the people of Fangthane felt the way they currently did. He sighed, looking down at his hands, “Let’s just say that the decision to bow out of the rebuilding effort wasn’t just because Drakemar’s Emissary showed up. It just happened to be the last straw.”

Selene slowly lowered her cup back onto its saucer. While she was doing a magnificent job of repressing her immediate emotional reaction, Edwin could still see flashes of pain, regret, dismay and frustration. The woman took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, then sent Edwin a sad smile,

“Thanks for the heads up about that.” she said, “No doubt someone’s going to try throwing that in my face at some point tomorrow.” Edwin scratched the back of his neck guiltily,

“Sorry.” he mumbled, “As much as I know you’ll probably manage just fine, I didn’t want you to go in completely unprepared.” Selene’s smile brightened,

“Thank you, Edwin, you always were the most thoughtful of us. It’s not like it’s a new argument anyway. Remember how often Ivan brought up renaming the town ‘Target’?” Edwin couldn’t quite hold back his snort of laughter,

“Wasn’t it at least every other week?” he asked, “You can’t blame him, everything just kept on happening there. I’m honestly surprised we had to travel so far to deal with Karylax.” Selene chuckled,

“I don’t know what I expected when Yastromo first brought me to Toreguarde. He did tell me some stories about the goings on there, but I brushed them off as exaggerations.” she looked down at her teacup, which was now clasped in both hands, a wistful look on her face, “I should have known better. Yastromo was not a man who exaggerated.” Edwin settled into his chair, and cocked his head,

“I never got to know him very well. I’d heard of the stories of his exploits when he was a young man, but I never got a chance to speak to him very often on the rare occasions we ended up back in Toreguarde.” he said thoughtfully, “I really wouldn’t mind hearing a bit more about what he was really like.” Selene lifted her head, her face lighting up with a wide, genuine smile, looking far more like the excitable young woman Edwin remembered travelling with. His heart fluttered slightly as Selene launched into a long, rambling story about when she’d first met her mentor. She was so much prettier when she smiled like that. He’d almost forgotten the way her eyes creased just so and how much she gesticulated when she started talking about something that excited her. Edwin sighed wistfully; this is what the visit should have been, he thought. Food, drink and long stories about their lives, shared and otherwise. Well, he was going to enjoy this comfortable contentment as long as it lasted. Who knew when the next time he’d get to enjoy an old friend’s company would be?

#writing #aquadestinyswriting #the wizard's tale #a circle none can break #selene frigidwake #edwin goodwin #storri goldseeker #skarld firetome #derek heimlig #titan fighting fantasy

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