eldritchmoms

[eldritchmoms]

Things that make me genuinely wonder what anyone who is not aware of the ooc background of how these two characters came about would make of what exactly the dynamic and history of Renosos and Maledos' relationship is

[eldritchmoms]

Ren, what's your favorite and least favorite ways to worship?

Ask A Cleric/Monk Religion Questions || Accepting

"Depends what you mean by worship. Are we talking about the formal ritualised acts of pious divine dick-sucking, or a broader kind of acts-of-devotion thing? Either way, my least favourite has to be the ones where there's a distinct possibility of not getting out them alive."

"As for favourite, the forms that are private. Personal. Maybe even intimate."

#renosos #things happen to you #when your life starts to revolve around intense religious experiences #and it hits when you have barely finished adolescence #that's my excuse for Ren being like That anyway

[eldritchmoms]

Question for Ren: What does devotion to a god really mean?

Ask A Cleric/Monk Religion Questions || Accepting

"That's easy." Ren barely seems to give it a thought. "Whatever you and your god mutually agree that it means. Maybe it's prayers every day and temple every tenday, on the chime. Maybe it's quietly giving thanks for their gifts whenever you encounter them. Maybe it's charity. Maybe it's working for them or their priests in the same way you would any other patron. Maybe it's studying ancient scripture, writing new scripture, maybe it's killing a whole lot of people who happen to be on their bad side. Depends on the god, and on you."

"The hard part is the mutual agreement bit."

#renosos

[eldritchmoms]

Ask a Cleric/Monk religion questions!

Ignore the one level of rogue, it probably isn't important.

#memes #ren will answer #the answer may be cursed

[eldritchmoms]

The calculating look Ren gives her doesn't need to be faked, though he held it longer than necessary. He had heard the way she sped up, words bunching together defensively with no gaps to interrupt once the word charity left her mouth. It was entirely possible she had practised that little speech. Between that and the clothes, it proved she was at least somewhat capable of learning from mistakes.

There was not a trace of guile in her beaming face, and it made him want to throw up.

"...And I suppose the charity part of this is the deal I cut you?" But he let the impression of cautious openness to the suggestion well up from behind those words, rather than have them blunt enough to shut her down completely. On simply a business level, the prospect of a substantial and potentially regular order like that had merits - provided she wasn't offering too little coin or asking for too much supply to handle.

On deeper levels, shadowier influences at play. It was one thing to offer honest help to the needy - or anyone who could play the part convincingly enough - but another to start getting ideas about cleaning up the Ashyard. It might not start that way, but sooner or later people like that tenaciously followed threads of earnest concern or righteous judgement all the way into places they didn't belong. If they did it alone it was inconvenient, but some were smart enough to bring backup, and a rare few could even whip it up into a citywide issue of concern.

“An adventurer!” Epiphany laughs as brightly as her grin, taking care not to let the door slam carelessly behind herself. “Oh no sir, not on purpose at least!” 

She can’t help but wince anyway. Not as sharply as she would have even a fortnight previously, but the reflex is still there. She’s well aware of how bright and shiny she is, and how untrustworthy that makes her look; it’s better now that she has more to wear than the robes and armour of a Templar. No one deliberately avoids her at least, but it’s still an uphill battle.

The hill isn’t as steep as she first thought, she reminds herself. She simply needed help, and there is never shame in that. Now that she knows what her obstacle was, she’s starting to push her way past it and this will aid her as well.

“I am not looking for fortune here, sir. My hope is that you’ll be willing to hear me out on a matter of charity.” This is the point where many shopkeepers have tried to turn her away, and she has learned to make her case quickly even when reminders of her station make them hesitate. For once she’s glad to be without them, though. This apothecary is part of the community she’s trying to serve, not an outsider she’s trying to gently bully with reminders of piety; she wants to work with him as much as possible, and keep trust within the Ashyard and the Docks. 

“I’m trying to find a way to distribute medicine effectively to people that need it. People who might otherwise have trouble keeping up or have no time to visit you personally. Nothing that requires expertise of course, I’m hardly a trained physician or apothecary, just seasonal remedies and herbs that will help with small pains and maledies.” She explains, keeping her smile sweet and honest in a way that seems to inspire trust even in those who want to doubt her intentions. A calm and level tone with no hint of fear helps a great deal. “And I would not ask you to part with your stock for free, sir. I have no intention to steal business from you as I’m more than capable of covering cost if you’ll agree to bargain, and I won’t be shy about naming you as the provider.”

#d20forinitiative #renosos #very mild emetophobia tw

[eldritchmoms]

"I wasn't that far east," Ren chuckles. "But considerably further than Marsember." Cormyr might as well be the exotic east as far as most on the Sword Coast were concerned. The far end of the Sea of Fallen Stars might as well be Kara-Tur to them. "Think of it this way: the distance from where I was to the far west of Shou Lung is about the same as the distance from here to Thay."

"But that said... I spent a lot of time in Thesk. There have been Shou towns in the larger settlements there for centuries. I was living in one for a while." Not a lie. Nowhere near the full truth of it either. "It's not the empire itself, but I'm told the largest in Telflamm might be the closest you'll get in Faerûn. But I'm also told it's different. Far enough in time and travel from Shou Lung and Shou-towns pick up a flavour of their own, apparently. If that's close enough, I can tell you a little."

continued. ll @eldritchmoms

Can all pointy-eared people do that? She's noticed Astarion's ears do much the same, but at a much higher rate and range of movement. Ren's movements are much more subtle, whether by better control or differences in make between Elves and Half-Elves --

One study at a time. Steadying herself, Sybelle reroutes that nervous energy towards her head and neck, nodding furiously. Black and red locks fly haphazard for a moment, before she straightens, forcing herself to remain very still and normal.

"Well... Did you ever learn much about Shou Lung? I know many Shou immigrated into Nathlan and Marsember, but I imagine a few must have felt loyal to the old homestead." Shifting the skirt of her robe, she casts an anxious eye back at Ren. Is it her place to ask about these things, knowing her father's kin had more claim to Shou Town than to Shou Lung itself?

She can call it academic curiosity if pressed, at least.

"I mean.. What's it like? Whatever you saw of it. If you did."

#renosos #eclipsecrowned

[eldritchmoms]

Discounting the votes in Ren's poll so far because you all know. I know you know. You cannot fool me.

#I knew this would happen

[eldritchmoms]

#cursed dash games #curses Mutt and Mal to have to consider this

[eldritchmoms]

#what do you mean I can only have 12 poll options #cursed dash games #no art for Abdul only best BG3 attempt

[eldritchmoms]

*scuttles in a circle*

Brain go brrr send me things random things. IC, meta, writing prompts, don't care.

This is a threat.

If you do not I may have to create the most cursed versions of these polls I can come up with.

[eldritchmoms]

Truth or Lie? || Accepting!

@eldritchmoms asked: (to Mutt, from Ren) "Why."

Mutt likes Ren.

Loves him, actually, although that’s a secret he’s not even handing over to Mask. The man is not just a mentor to him, if Mutt is to be honest with himself; a father would be the more accurate description, despite how the half-elf might protest the title. Malika and Maledos will tease him with it now and then when they’re all together, and Ren never fails to cringe and scowl until he thinks he’s not being watched. 

That’s when the paternal gleam enters his eye, along with the affection and pride. 

So Mutt will never say it, will never confront Ren with his own secret, but love and respect for the man means he doesn’t consider lying to him either. Not even for a second.

Mutt picks his teeth as he contemplates the not-really-a-question, careful not to scrape his gums with the edge of the eating knife as he roots for the source of a minor discomfort. It’s a loaded one to be sure, with a variety of interpretations to work off of. Why are you like this? Why did you do that? Why do you say these things? Asked by anyone else, to anyone else, the answer might be incredibly different.

But Ren?

Mutt smiles, taking the knife from his hand with the split ends of his tail and holding out his now empty hands.

“Why not.”

#grabs this and puts it here #calling Ren out on being a dad shaped presence #never gets old

[eldritchmoms]

Things that play low key on repeat in my head #132: the fact that the streamlining of spellcasting and the removal of significant effects for alignment gives a powerful enough cleric of literally any god, in terms of The Rules, the potential to raise a modest horde of undead.

Or, for the more serious and lore friendly meta on the topic...

You hit level 5 as cleric and there's a noticable jump in power. Both in obvious game terms, but also very obvious in world sense. Your turn undead now less gives them the ouchies and more instantly turns your average skeleton or zombie to ash, for one. There's also what I consider to be a notable change in flavor between a cleric's 3rd level spells and those at levels 1 and 2. You can do basic stuff at those levels - heal, cause damage, protect, minor blessings or curses, find/detect stuff - that's impressive to anyone without PC levels, but it's not the sort of thing that in your average mid to high magic setting is going to upset the order of things.

Then you pick up 3rd level spells and you can, under admittedly limited circumstances, bring the fucking dead back to life.

How does that possibility hit someone. What changes in you knowing that that is something you could potentially do?

There's a lot of bullshit you can start doing at the 3rd level spell stage as a cleric but for this I want to focus on three spells that inch restingly open up to you at the same time: Revivify, Speak With Dead, and Animate Dead.

Mechanics wise they do three very different things and it's a jump to think of them as connected at all, beyond them all being from the same school: necromancy. But think of it this way:

Animate Dead reanimates the body alone. Speak With Dead, given an intact enough body, brings back the animating spirit.

Revivify, in that tiny window where the body is intact and the spirit lingers, allows for the return of the soul.

They are the three required components to be able to accomplish the later, fully-fledged ressurection spells. And that's why even as the goodest of light-aligned, undead smiting paragons of virtue, as a cleric you still have that knowledge, that possibility of how you might be able to shape divine power, tucked away in the back of your brain.

Edit: Anyway fr go look at the what happens when you hit level 3 cleric spells and understand why your cleric oc should have / have had an existential crisis at level 5.

#your god might go WTF NO if you actually try #but that's a question for later

[eldritchmoms]

META ASKS: If Your OC Was Canon.

BASIC:

What changes do you think would be made between your muse as they exist in your head vs how they would be treated as part of canon?

What plot points would change due to the inclusion of your character in canon?

What role would your character play in the story? Are they a major player, or a one scene wonder?

If there are multiple adaptions/If they are part of a multi-part franchise, which ones would your character appear in?

Besides your face/voiceclaim, who do you think would be cast as your character?

If your character had a breakout show/film/comic, what would the plot be? Who would be in their supporting cast?

What headcanons/theories do you believe fandom would invent about your character?

FANDOM:

What do you think the fandom for your character would be like? Are they a fan favorite, a love to hate villain, derided for whatever reason, or something else?

What feelings does your character most often instill in their fans? Affection? A desire to protect? Open lust? A love/hate dynamic? Why do you think their fans feel this way?

By contrast, what would their haters dislike about your character? Is it a petty complaint? A mischaracterization of the character or their intentions? Are they just a woman in a largely male-centric series?

What controversies/drama would your character incite in fandom?

What fan-material would exist for your character in fandom?

Is your character the subject of ‘imagines’ or ‘x reader’ style blogs?

Are there any tropes fandom would put upon your character, for better or for worse?

What would be the ‘incorrect but wildly popular’ interpretation of your character in fandom?

What corners of fandom would consider your character blorbo material?

SHIPPING:

What do you imagine the most popular ship(s) for your character would be?

Are there ship wars? Are they a popular character to ship, or the kind of character that gets shuffled off and away from shipping for whatever reason?

How does fandom characterize/mischaracterize your characters ship in fanworks?

If your character isn’t designed for shipping/isn’t interested in shipping, how hard does fandom have to mangle them to make them shipping material/open to a relationship?

Be honest. What song is playing over an AMV/tiktok of scenes between your character and their love interest?

What is the wildest crackship you can imagine for your character, whether in-universe or in crossover?

What is the quote between your character and their love interest/whoever they might be shipped with that their fans would latch onto?

What’s the discourse surrounding your ship?

#memes

[eldritchmoms]

There are moments when someone has to confront that they've gotten better than they realized at something. Maledos knows that he's good at this - slight of hand is his bread and butter, his lifeline.... And still, it's odd, standing there behind Ren with tea in his hands and no tells that Ren had noticed that what he'd done.

He's there for nearly a full four seconds - he counts them - before he makes a decision. Ren is having a bad day, he decides, and he settles his weight a little less carefully on his toes, turning himself towards the counter and starting to prepare them each a cup of the tea that he'd grabbed. It smelled vibrant when he opened it - orange broken into small pieces and mixed in among the various other parts of the tea. He's fairly certain that some of those dark pieces aren't tea at all, but are cacao nibs instead.

The good tea indeed.

"Not sleeping well?"

((Perception check.... Failed? That don't seem right.))

He had been perfectly aware of Mal's awkward presence behind him, but when he moved and the scent hit...

Sometimes being good didn't matter. You only needed to slip up once. This time it was a single point against him in a long running game. The next time it could be a knife in his back.

He had wondered before now if Maledos would be the one to end up winning out over him on both counts.

But on the heels of that it was the question that slid like steel between his ribs and twisted.

Maledos could not possibly know. There was no way in which he could know that Ren had not had a good night's sleep since decades before the tiefling had been born, and even fewer in which he could know why.

One way. One way, against which he had no defense, no excuse, no deflection.

But he had honed skills of impassivity and false expression and finely controlled physical response to his inner thoughts to the degree that most thieves spent on stealth and light fingers.

"You're getting good," he said softly, instead, not fully turning to look in Maledos' direction. And that was far more of a confession of his mind than any other would ever have gotten.

#renosos #this is the most joy I have ever had on seeing a nat 1 come up ngl #vulnerability time >:3

[eldritchmoms]

That's kind of evasive, MoM. What do you think about Jenova? Does she scare you? What would you do if she came for you?

Personal Muse Asks GOOOO || Accepting

"Okaaaay, fine. Yeah, she's out there, she eats worlds in a comprehensive, disappears-from-every-version-of-reality way, but compared to the Darkness? She's a one binge every few million years gal. Takes the slow route through cosmic space. Once Darkness gets going though, that'll consume everything in a heartbeat. E V E R Y T H I N G."

[eldritchmoms]

Hey, MoM have you ever heard of a being called Jenova? If so, what do you think about it?

Personal Muse Asks GOOOO || Accepting

"Hey, you know it's not polite to go around calling people 'it' right? I mean, unless that is their preferred pronoun, in which case it's rude not to. Anyway... when you are aware of the whole-" *exaggerated air quotes* "-multiple worldlines thing... it gets hard to ignore the few entities who don't have... how to put this... variations. Same person, same goals, same mind, fully aware of and integrated through every possible outcome of events."

#KINGDOM HEARTS BULLSHIT GO #MoM: yes #please never ask me about this again

[eldritchmoms]

Her hands quiver out a beat on her calf, sat criss-cross applesauce at the fire. She's being so normal. Completely normal. Her dark eyes are blown wide, whether from anticipation or anxiety or both. "Nice night," Sybelle opens, grinning at Ren. "Here, I've been roasting some sausages. So, I heard you spent time at the border --" Overheard it earlier, more like. Her rounded ears are all over the place, whenever they make camp. She taps her sandal absently against her heel, adding to the frenetic energy. The young wizard is being so normal, and going to get a good grade in normalcy, too. "What was that like?"

Personal Muse Asks GOOOO || Accepting

Sybelle had been brimming with nervous energy to ask him something since before they'd made camp. It could, given the circumstances, have been a lot worse.

It still made his ears twitch slightly though.

"I've spent plenty of time at plenty of borders," Renosos said evenly, accepting the only slightly burned sausage with a sigh. "But I assume you mean what you'd call the Unapproachable East."

It had been a bastard to get to originally, even starting from considerably closer than the Sword Coast.

"It's like travelling anywhere. Different sights, different food, learn the local culture to avoid making as ass of yourself, and learn who to under no circumstances piss off or end up dead in a sewer."

"Other than that, you'll have to be more specific."

#open invitation to turn this into a thread :3 #renosos #he is excluding A Lot #So Much