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jakey-beefed-it · 3 years

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God, I need to expand on this because it was SO FUCKING COOL.

So I mentioned that Altanin died yesterday as part of a puzzle to gain access to a tomb... but that really doesn’t do any of it justice.

Quick background: Altanin is a tiefling, he was raised by human steppe nomads but never really regarded as one of them save by for his few friends and his adoptive mom. Eventually he accidentally killed his fiancee’s asshole brother (barbarian rage is a thing) in what should’ve been just a brawl, and was exiled.

Come to find out somewhat recently that the real reason he was exiled is that all the clan shamans had been having prophetic visions that a figure with horns and eyes like burning coals (which very much describes my tiefling lad) would bring ruin to their people. Some wanted to exile him right then and there, others thought it would be better to kill him, but the majority were like ‘Altanin? Kehuja’s boy? He’s big but he’s not dangerous to US, he’s a good kid.’

Until of course Altanin killed a man *by accident* just by dint of how fucking strong he is, at which point they kinda reconvened and were like ‘Ok yeah he’s dangerous to us whether he means to be or not, destiny is not to be fucked with, should probably kill him’ but Altanin’s mom, who is one of said shamans, convinced them to settle for exile.

Anyhow so we’re trying to get into the tomb of the legendary khagan who united the nomads ages and ages ago, because there’s something there that the bad guys who have invaded the steppes want and we’re determined to get it first or otherwise ensure they can’t get it, as that would likely be really bad. And there’s this full on transitional gateway that leads to... the spirit world, as far as Altanin’s concerned- a representation of the top of the holy mountain in the middle of the steppes, with carved megaliths representing the aspects of the Stormfather, the sky god who makes up half of their sort of national pantheon (the other being Earthmother). On the one side of the summit is the gateway we came through, showing the inside of the tomb. On the other side of the summit is another stone gateway, but empty. In the middle were the bad guys’ elite soldiers who were trying to puzzle out how to open the other gate.

There was a huge fight (where Altanin literally grabbed an enemy tiefling by the horns and yeeted him off the top of the mountain), and after we won, and dealt with a malevolent ghost possessing our rogue, Altanin went around to the megaliths and did the gestures or whatever they required to ‘activate’ them. In the process he took a fuckton of damage and a level of exhaustion, and had to cast aside all his gear before coming to the final pillar. The carvings indicated that the thing to do in order to proceed... was to die, as every storm must.

Now, Altanin isn’t fearless as such, just perfectly willing to fight and die for strangers, much less his own people. But he is a bit conflicted- his people are the ones who cast him out, after all. Other people elsewhere in the world- particularly orks generally and the mostly human city where he settled for a while -think very well of him and welcome him and even love him. He’d die for any of them without hesitation. But that’s not what’s being asked of him. So here he is, on an echo of the holy mountain of his people, and to go forward and unlock the tomb of their legendary hero-founder, he has to die for them.

Altanin looks back at his friends one last time, and gives them a sad, slightly wry smile. He then channels all the energy he’d gathered from the other megaliths into his fist and punches himself square in the face. A lightning blast the size of which no one in the party has ever seen flashes down, and he drops dead.

Altanin, now basically a ghost, sees that the other door is open after all (to him anyhow, now that he’s dead). While his friends try frantically and unsuccessfully to raise him, he proceeds into the final chambers of the tomb.

There he finds it guarded by countless mummies... of tieflings. Who proceed to tell him that the legendary khagan... was an evil sorcerer who manipulated the steppe nomads into serving him to escape the fate of the other evil sorcerers to the east (who were killed in a huge epic war with most of the rest of the world like several thousand years ago). And these tiefling mummies are there to guard his remains, and ensure that they can never again be free from his sarcophagus prison. They were the first of the steppe nomads, these tieflings, Altanin’s ancestors. They were the ones who served the khagan the most loyally, and so it is their duty to ensure he never returns. Over time, the legends changed such that the khagan himself was remembered heroically but the tieflings were cast as accursed, leading to Altanin’s less than warm welcome among most of the nomads apart from the ones who knew him well.

So he realizes that he really is one of them, one of the nomads, not just by the way he was raised by also by ancestry... but to learn the truth of things would break the spirit of his people, even if they believed him. And so he must keep this secret from all but his companions- both that the khagan was a wicked tyrant, and also that he, Altanin, is truly one of the people by blood and bond both. The best news of his life... but he can’t really share it with the people who would treat him differently if they knew.

The guardian mummies guided him to four legendary (and, they warned, cursed) treasures that had been buried with the khagan. Well, three- one of them had already been removed ages ago and found its way to Altanin’s hand previously- this is Ravener; his magic longsword forged by Stormfather. They led him to see the sarcophagus of the khagan, where Altanin agreed he must remain for eternity and promised the guardians he would keep the details secret to protect the resting place. Walking out the door he was returned to bodily form (his corpse vanishing in another flash of lightning), passed out the rest of the loot to the party.

Anyhow it was a Big Dramatic session that was kind of the culmination of a whole lot of good emotional plot stuff for my boy, and I am SUPER PUMPED to keep goin’ with Altanin.

#Jake plays Dungeons and Dragons #Jake's dumb characters #Altanin the Unbreakable

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woozletania · 7 years

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Sanctuary, Part 6 (RR/Lylla

After reconciling with Lylla (again), Rocket begins to admit to himself that he feels something for her he’s never felt before. Maybe it’s even love. Who knows? He doesn’t have a lot of experience in the area. After all, who’s going to want to kiss a little monster?

*****

It was the third time he’d woken up in the little round bed with Lylla. This time was different.

The first time they’d shared a bed, he’d been injured and she was exhausted from her escape from the illegal research center where she was made. He’d only crawled into bed with her to comfort her as she was gripped by a nightmare. The next morning he’d crept back out without her ever knowing he was there, as far as he knew. Then he’d said something stupid over a meal and scared her, yet she’d asked him to curl up with her again so she’d feel safe. Both times she’d been scared and he’d still been recovering from injuries he received while rescuing her. He’d once again crawled out of bed, careful not to wake her since he knew she needed to rest.

And then, like the idiot he was, he’d scared her again and that’d been it for the briefly known warmth and comfort of sharing a bed with her. He made her a separate bed and despite what he suspected were Groot’s efforts to get them back together their relationship never quite got back to that point, until last night.

She’d only been on board a week and already Rocket was more confused than he’d been in his life. He’d had enemies, rivals. Even, all too seldom, friends. The Guardians were the closest thing he’d ever had to a family and Pete had stuck with him even when he bit him. Twice. They stuck with him despite all his issues and Rocket knew, deep inside where it counted, that if there came a time where either he or the Guardians had to die he’d step forward to take the bullet. Just as Yondu had, sacrificing himself to save Pete without a second thought.

And after only a week, he knew he’d do the same for Lylla. He’d almost died getting her free. He’d do it again in a second. What did that mean? What was happening to him?

The lights came on in the galley area down the hall and Lylla stirred, wrapped warmly around him and sleepily nuzzling his neck. It wasn’t the first time he’d woken up next to someone. He’d been in plenty of prisons where the prisoners slept in piles and he had to find the least smelly crevice in the stack of bodies to sleep. But this was the first time he woke up sleeping next to someone and liked it. Found himself looking forward to the next nap, the warm presence against his side, the fur against fur, the tickle of her whiskers. The touch of someone who might be built a little differently, but was like him in so many ways.

Gamora appeared in the doorway and tapped the bulkhead gently until Lylla started awake. "Breakfast up in five,“ she said, and though she smiled to see them back in the same bed she didn’t comment on it.

Lylla stretched and yawned as Rocket slid out of the round, padded bed the two of them filled so neatly. He pulled on his armored tunic, snapping the latches even as he listened to her move behind him.

He heard the slight hesitations, the wince. The researchers had done a better job on her than they had on him but she still hurt sometimes when she moved. Hopefully Doc Foster could fix that. Hopefully by the end of the day her movement would be as painless as his was after that day-long session on Paul Foster’s operating table.

"Rocket,” she chirped as he handed over the harness he’d made for her. She slept in the nude, if you didn’t count the fur. Sometimes he did too, but not when he was with her. It seemed wrong, somehow. He always kept on at least his pants.

“Good morning,” he said, and resisted an urge he’d never had before. The urge to lean over and nuzzle her neck, or maybe even to try out this kissing thing that Pete managed so easily. It wouldn’t be right, though. It would be taking advantage of someone who relied on him to protect her.

Not that she needed to be protected, or for him to make decisions for her. She came out of the bed on all fours and hugged him, nuzzling that same spot below his ear where her bite had nearly killed him. "Rocket,“ she whispered. "Why do you trust me? I almost killed you. And then I, I used you to get me out, even knowing what I’d done.”

Now it was Pete watching from the doorway. Rocket ignored him as he hugged Lylla. "I told you. You were desperate. I did things to get free I still don’t like to think about. Yeah, you bit me and rode me out, but you also kept me alive by doing that. Sometimes we do bad things and it still works out all right.“

"That’s pretty much our motto,” Pete said as Lylla fastened her black and green harness. A few minutes later they were chowing down on eggs and sausage once again (the selection in the cupboard wasn’t so good at the moment, everyone agreed) and the highly carnivorous she-otter picked at the muffins Pete had baked, extracting the baked-in berries and happily eating those while leaving the dismembered bready husk behind. That got her a bowl of blue and red berries to munch. Rocket, more omnivorous, ate everything put in front of him including the remains of Lylla’s muffins. They both ate more than one would expect, the shipboard joke being that Rocket ate more than Drax. That wasn’t true, but their enhanced metabolisms and cybernetics consumed many more calories than a normal forty-pound creature.

It was a drawback of the Uplift. An energy hungry enhanced brain, reinforced immune system and cybernetics that drew power from the metabolism. The result was that Rocket ate at least twice as much as an animal his size would and more than once had teetered on the edge of starvation back in the bad old days after he escaped from the Halfworld complex. He’d gained several pounds after coming on board the Milano and thankfully had stopped there. Some sort of weight control system must be in place in his engineered metabolism or else he’d be a fat not-a-raccoon now with all the food he put down.

“You two are going to eat me out of house and home,” Pete joked as he shoveled another helping of sausage-and-pepper omelet onto Lylla’s plate. She at once set to work eating her way around the peppers.

“Need to pick up some fish next stopover,” Rocket mumbled through a mouthful of food. Like Lylla, he ate with his hands.

“What’s fish,” Lylla chirped.

“Aquatic scaly thing,” Rocket said after swallowing. "What you’d probably be eating if you weren’t here,“ which was a diplomatic way of saying the animal she appeared based on was probably a fish eater.

Peter finished serving Mantis, Drax and Gamora (and a small helping for three-foot-tall Groot, who didn’t need to eat much) before speaking. "So, I guess…” He shot a look at Rocket.

“He told me, yes,” Lylla chirped, which got a curious look from Gamora.

“Told you what?”

“Rocket found something in my scans he thinks are poison glands,” Lylla chirped, and touched her cheek. "So I can just bite once and, and leave my victim to die.“

"Ah,” said Gamora, but she didn’t miss the way Lylla’s voice went weak at the end, nor did she miss how Rocket put his hand on Lylla’s when he sensed her distress. That got a small smile out of Gamora. Drax, being Drax, was oblivious.

“Efficient,” rumbled the giant. "What if the target’s biology is different? One poison won’t work on everyone.“

"Don’t know,” Rocket said, mouth again full of food. "Might be set each time somehow, though I didn’t see any way to interface with the implants. I’m pretty sure they aren’t active right now.“

"Because I didn’t kill him when I bit him,” Lylla said, and the hurt in her voice made Rocket squeeze her hand and whisper something to her.

“You nearly did,” observed Drax, which got him elbowed by Gamora. "What?“

After that were several minutes of silence as the crew finished eating. "So, we off to Gumwalt?”

“Xandar,” Rocket said briefly. "‘Parently Doc Foster’s there now. Right in city center where Ronan’s ship crashed, even. It’ll be like old times.“

After breakfast and a shower for Pete, some self-grooming for Rocket, they made their way up to the cockpit. Peter knew what was coming when Rocket turned up the music. Some Yardbirds, along with the ambient ship noise ought to let them talk privately. Lylla’d probably figured that out by now, but she was too polite to poke her nose in every time the music got turned up. Peter repressed a smile at the song choice, though Heart Full Of Soul was at least a less obvious choice than For Your Love.

“I think there’s something wrong with me, Pete,” Rocket said, staring fixedly through the windscreen even as his little hands programmed in jumps with no need of input from his brain.

“No there isn’t,” Peter said.

“I’m goin’ soft in the head,” Rocket complained. “All sorts a stupid thoughts.”

“That’s how it starts,” Peter said unhelpfully, and no amount of prying could get him to say any more. Instead he changed the subject.

"So, Xandar,” Peter said as he checked the series of jumps Rocket had set up that would take them there. Naturally there were no errors. "That’s a pretty drastic move. I thought you said he was out on Gumwalt keeping a low profile.“

"Because he thought I might track him down and kill him,” Rocket said matter-of-factly. "But that’s in the past. If it weren’t for Doc Foster we wouldn’t be having this conversation, Pete.“

"I know, Rock,” said Peter Quill, who over the months had pieced together enough of Rocket’s horrifying background to know that if it weren’t for Paul Foster they’d probably be taking a bounty on Rocket instead of taking them with him. And Doc Foster had fixed up Rocket’s shoddily installed cybernetics, too. Peter never heard his friend hide a wince of pain or saw him flinch in the middle of what should be a simple motion any more. And it’d been Foster, too, who had clued Rocket in to the existence of more Uplifts. If the doctor ever needed a favor, Rocket wouldn’t have to do it alone. All of the Guardians would be right there to help.

“Anyway, he’s on Xandar now. I have his address but he didn’t say what he was doing there. I guess he wants to surprise me.”

And it was a surprise. In fact it turned out to be a whole series of them.

#rocket raccoon #lylla otter #guardians of the galaxy #slice of life

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