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#KOBOLD NOOOOO
honey-doc · 5 months
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I guess you could say all of Laios’ desires were fulfilled throughout the manga. He got to eat monsters and share that interest with others, he interacts with monsters, he became a monster, he saves Falin, the above picture, and he even gets to see what desires taste like!
It’s like the curse the demon places on him that forbids him from playing with monsters by making them avoid him is the same as having those desires eaten like the other dungeon lords because Laios really got to do everything he wanted the ENTIRE time even when others were like ‘nooooo’ lol. Especially when him starting the journey lead to the situation with the demon reaching this dire stage (even if he’s the one who made the demon leave and rendered him a threat no longer)
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I don’t think Laios deserved the punishment he got because he’s really nice and cares about his loved ones, but it’s just like some kind of poetic justice? Like many people suspected Falin wouldn’t be able to get revived because of the narrative themes revolving around accepting death and danger of the infinite (immortality, having your desires fulfilled forever, and resurrection itself). So the sacrifice the demon has him undergo kind of balances everything out. It’s still a happy ending, but also a “fair” one…
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(Speaking of which, I absolutely adore how under Laios’s rule, “demi-humans” like orcs and kobolds are finally treated fairly like this man brought about world peace how can you hate him. That’s another thing, about how Laios has no prejudice inside of him because of the way he thinks but that’s another post lol)
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lio-the-loaf · 3 years
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Vore
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blooms-of-ice · 3 years
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Wyda is officially retired...for now. She had a good run, and I loved writing for her! GOD the existential dread I felt as I drew closer and closer to running the event that would end her.
Her story continues through another. Give a follow here! :D
I’ll be keeping this blog up as an archive, although I might still post every now and again. But since her arc is done, here goes! An unedited, unfiltered slurry of words-directly-from-brain-to-keyboard about Wyda! I’m warning you, this is true farm fresh to you stuff. And spoilers for many events in FF14. Read on if you dare.
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Strap in, it’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.
Did I say that I love Primals?
Primal lore gives the FF14 devs a lot of creative freedom when it comes to designing bosses. Want the arena changed? Want something/someone to look absolutely wack? Want to spin up a threat without having a villain train for years prior? Bam, primals.
It also gives us, the players, the same creative freedoms when it comes to roleplaying!
The requirements to summon one are humorously low. At first, primals result from misguided and zealous beastmen shenanigans. Ifrit, Titan, Ramuh, Leviathan, Garuda...but then we get a bunch of weird summonings. Like when Ga Bu summons a funky version of Titan through his despair alone. Or when Yotsuyu brings forth Tsukuyomi because she really, really wants to see the world burn. Hell, Gilgamesh just thinks about his friend Enkidu in the presence of some crystals, and that’s enough to bring forth a primal. So I guess the only requirements for a primal summoning are 1) crystals and 2) thinking kinda hard? Strong feelings, especially negative ones, seem to be more effective but then again! What the heck happened with Gilgamesh? Who knows?!
But this is one of my favorite things in FF14. It’s a powder keg of a situation that will, and HAS, gone off multiple times.
Being tempered, meanwhile, is a fate worse than death. You’re forced to change sides and fight for the enemy. You don’t even find peace when you die - tempered souls linger in Eorzea thanks to how messed up they are by the process. But you don’t become a mindless servant either. *Points to Emet-Selch who is....kinda...on your side (???) but also on Zodiark’s side*
Things aren’t nearly as dark now that tempering can be cured. I’m very thankful, since otherwise my campaign would’ve had a very, very depressing ending. One that I originally planned for but STILL. I’m weak. ;_;
Riding off the Rails
Primal lore is flexible. In ARR, the rules are established, but later expansions took those rules and went “Well, what about this? And this? And this?” In other words, this is me admitting that I’m shameless and will stretch this lore until I reach the moon.
Developing Wyda was a ‘chicken first, egg later’ sort of situation. Though trite, I gave her amnesia in order to give myself an excuse for knowing nothing about FF14 lore (and because I was new to roleplaying). When I finally sat down to flesh her out, my mind kept returning to primals. I love ‘em and their potential for drama! So yeah, I was determined to make it work.
There were a lot of questions I had to answer. If Wyda is a primal, then why isn’t she tempering everyone she meets?! How is she getting away with being a ‘normal’ person? And how do I avoid power creep? I know, for a fact, that if I walked into an RP event and just said...hey. My character is a primal, are you cool with that? The answer would be a solid no. Nooooo! I’d tell that to myself! So I wanted to solve these questions in a fair way that would allow others (and myself) to remain immersed in the roleplaying world. Luckily, FF14 lore is like a bottomless chest of building blocks. It was just a matter of stacking them carefully.
Primals are summoned when someone thinks around some crystals (Ah, Gilgamesh...)
The primal’s purpose is based on the summoner’s desires, but with a monkey’s paw twist (Ga Bu’s Titan punching the other kobolds away is indicative of this)
The amount of aether used in the summoning determines how powerful the primal will be (Shinryu being beefy as hell)
Primals can be summoned out of thin air, or be channeled into someone’s body
When a primal is channeled, the summoner needs the Echo to resist (Ysalye and Ryne). Otherwise the summoner is tempered by their own creation.
Now, with those blocks in hand, I started spitballing...and it led me to this thought. If a primal’s purpose is to NOT be a primal, what happens?
Would they know that they’re a primal?
Can they still use their primal powers?
What happens when the primal is based off of someone who still exists?
For Wyda, I chose to swing this way.
Her memory is garbage because she’s a primal based on someone else. Even if you know someone really well, you can’t perfectly recreate/emulate them.
She’s normal-powered because all her primal magic is going towards suppressing her powers. Extremely inefficient. And she’s very human-like because she’s possessing someone else’s body, as opposed to being made purely of primal aether.
Primals temper whether they want to or not - aether leaks, and it corrupts. To solve this for Wyda, instead of leaking aether out of the wazoo...thanks to the nature of her summoning, she just leaks a tiny bit all the time. Not enough to temper.
But I also wrote myself into a corner. If Wyda isn’t going to behave like a primal, then how does she exist for so long? They need a constant source of aether to survive, and she’s not doing primal stuff since she’s too busy being human. And so...the answer is that she doesn’t. Once her aether runs out, then poof.
See? Fun! (But also pain. So much pain.)
Playing with Fire
Eorzea (like most fantasy RPG settings) is a nightmare factory. Most, if not all, who make their living ‘adventuring’ are scarred from what they have to face. For every success story (WoL), there are countless more tragedies (Avere). And even if you survive...who wouldn’t get trauma if you were an adventurer and it was normal for your buddies to be eaten by a beast, tempered by a primal, possessed by a ghost?
Which is to say, Wyda's scars run deep. Shit goes down. 
To repeat that in slightly more words: Wyda is an accidental byproduct of Cravendy’s grief and longing. At her lowest moment, Cravendy (a Seawolf pirate) thinks of her friend Dots and the unfairness of it all. And oops, there are crystals nearby. So now, we got Wyda walking around in Cravendy’s body, thinking that she’s someone named Dots. By the way, Dots is still alive! Very awkward.
Wyda is a denial incarnate. She is Cravendy’s dream for safety, family, and happiness for Dots. But denial does not erase the past, nor does it change how you feel. By existing, Wyda suppresses those feelings for Cravendy and freezes the other woman in the past. With the both of them like this, Cravendy will never accept her trauma and Wyda will be plagued with a stranger’s guilt.
Primal souls are weird. I have no idea where they come from, but they seem separate from the summoner’s. So as Wyda’s influence wanes, Cravendy’s soul begins to resurface. This forces Wyda into a cycle of self-discovery and self-destruction that, unfortunately, convinces Wyda that she ought to disappear. It’s a tragic conclusion she reaches after having her worldview shattered. She’s a copy of Dots, she’s a primal. What’s real, and what’s not? What even matters?
The Power of Love
Love is a persistent theme for all of my characters. For Cravendy, love is why she hurts, so she would rather forget it than bear any more pain. But Wyda is the opposite - she loves too much. When all else is a sham, Wyda trusts that the love she feels is real. And ultimately, this love dooms Wyda and saves Cravendy.
Wyda’s fatal flaw is her self-destructive selflessness. Thanks to being mistaken for Dots all the time, Wyda develops a low sense of self. Then events of the campaign erode that into nothingness. She’s a second rate copy full of brittle memories, she’s a fake! And discovering Cravendy’s sleeping soul only pushes Wyda further into her flaw. Here is my purpose, she thinks! My original! And I’ll save her no matter what, because she deserves to live!
But it’s a mistake. Certainly, Cravendy is saved, but Wyda deserves to be saved too. Although she loves with all her heart, Wyda never learns to love herself and see her own self-worth. She doesn’t understand that her friends don’t share her view of herself - as a worthless copy that can only find value in saving another. Her selflessness loops into selfishness.
Maybe Wyda will come back...She certainly has a lot to learn still!
The TLDR version of all this is that I accidentally pulled a Kingdom Hearts plot with this character, and now I understand, Nomura. I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU BRING BACK YOUR CHARACTERS. ;_;
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kristsune · 3 years
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Rqg anon: oh nooooo hamid being the Kobold Messiah nobody fucking likes this bit bad vibes well at least its like due to him being a dragon which tbh if he went even more dragony than he is would in this universe also work on humans with the whole meritocrats thing but still this all does have very white saviours vibes despite half of them not being white and none of them human lol I'm choosing to assume we just got unlucky with how the plot is framed or ended up playing out in the game you can't perfectly control actual play but hm this has weird vibes then again I am not the expert or really qualified to speak on this
yeeeahhh everything got... a bit mucky. 
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creativerogues · 5 years
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The Stupidest Things I've Done with Legendary Items...
Stick a Clan of Goblins to a Wall with Sovereign Glue
This Story comes from when our Party was going through a Goblin-Filled Dungeon to get to the Bottom and fight what was going to be the Adventure's Big Bad.
I was playing a Kobold Arcane Trickster who was an expert in trap-making, and recently came across a bottle of Sovereign Glue.
So, as we made our way through the Dungeon, the DM told us that on the other side of the next door was the forgotten and maddened Clan of Scratching Paw Goblins.
And we made our plan.
I, as the genius trap-maker, decided to smear the wall opposing the door in Sovereign Glue, and using Grease, created what was basically a slip 'n' slide all the way to a wall covered in Sovereign Glue.
And so with only a minute or so until the glue dried, and with most of the Party confident but still panicking about fighting 20 Goblins, even at as high a level as we were, we opened the door, and our Tiefling Wizard used her Thaumaturgy to make her voice louder and shout "ANY WHO DAREs TO PROVE THEMSELVES TO THEIR FAITH, STEP FORWARD!"
And the Silent Image of a goblin's "God" appeared in the doorway, gesturing for the goblins to come through and join them.
The DM rolled for each goblin to see if they saw through the illusion. Not a single goblin got above a 12 on the Die so each and every one of them stepped through, failed their saving throw against the Grease, and slipped, sliding all the way to a wall covered in Sovereign Glue, sticking there.
Hurrah! Now we have 20 goblins stuck to a wall and we just decided to move on and leave them there, stuck against the wall for all eternity...
And I only remember this because it came up recently in a oneshot, as a new party walked through and saw a bunch of goblin bodies stuck to a wall, and two very emaciated goblins stuck to the wall bickering about how "I TOLD YOU IT WAS MAGIC, BUT NOOOOO, YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!"
I completely forgot about it until they started bickering about "THAT STUPID KOBOLD!" and my jaw dropped before the table busted into laughter...
Play the "Stab between the Fingers" Game with a Vorpal Sword
Probably the dumbest decision I've made, but we had a game of "Stab between the Fingers" between the Ranger, the Barbarian, and Myself. 
But with a Natural 20 from the Barbarian, the Ranger's naturally high dexterity bonus, and my need to absolutely destroy these fools in a fantasy game, I decided to up the steaks by using the Voral Dagger I had, and of course everyone involved goes "YES!" when they here the idea...
And then the Barbarian immediately rolled a 3 and cut off one of his fingers, and the Ranger rolled a 1 and cut off their hand.
So, after declaring myself the Winner (told ya I'd destroy these fools!) we regenerated their limbs and everyone was good, except our Gnome Wizard and Tinkerer in the Group who insisted he could've just made them a mechanical limb if they just asked...
Play a Game of Cards with a Deck of Many Things
One of the best ways to kick off a high-level campaign!
We were Level 15, and I was playing yet another Goblin, but much more chaotic.
He had gained a Deck of Many Things from a Dragon's Hoard, and he wanted to play a game with the less... intelligent... of the group, also known as the two barbarians in the group.
And so we ended up playing a Card Game with the Deck of Many Things.
The Wizard actually caught us in the act, but it was already too late...
I had already drawn the Moon Card, the Dragonborn Barbarian had already drawn the Idiot Card, and worst of all, the Aasimar Barbarian had already drawn the Void Card.
So now I had 2 Wishes, the Dragonborn Barbarian now had an Intelligence of 2, and the Aasimar Barbarian was left soulless.
So now we had to recover his soul from Dis in the Nine Hells, guarded by a Powerful Pit Fiend named Alag-guug.
It was definitely one way to kick off a high level campaign, since the DM was pretty much betting on one of us drawing something terrible...
But don't worry, I ended using one of my wishes to enter Avernus, first layer of the hells, and the Deck of Many Things was eventually thrown into the River Styx, so all was safe...
...Until I used my second Wish to craft another Deck of Many Things! HA HA HA!
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readbythestarlight · 5 years
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c2e53 reactions:
When Sam comes in with a llama puppet you know the ad is gonna be good
I love how he can’t even get half his jokes out
FJORD DREAM FJORD DREAM
I’m actually worried this could be bad if U’Kutoa is displeased that he isn’t pursuing the last temple
"Watching"
nope
"Return"
noPE
"Reward"
and he gets surrounded by eyes and tentacles
"Wander"
NOPE
"Punish"
NOPE NOPE NOPE
NOOOOOPE
Oh god I knew bad things were gonna happen but don’t hurt my son
"You ever feel like you’re not gonna wake up from a dream while you’re in it?" Let me hug him let me protect him.
I do like Cad’s encouragement that if U’Kutoa could hurt him then he would have. God I hope that’s true.
Fjord considering making a new pact with someone else to counteract U’Kutoa. Can he do that? Can warlocks switch their pacts?
"Everybody’s gonna take care of you, it’s gonna be alright." Wow that made me emotional.
Nott always encouragingher kid Caleb
F: "literally anyone in this group is a great leader. Except you."
J: "I think you’d be a great leader, Nott."
N: "Thank you, Jester.... but that’s not true it’s just Caleb."
Gosh I hope they just hurry up and get to Yeza, dawdling is what got them into this situation. Kinda.
"Not ALL my bat droppings" only Caleb.
Caleb’s just like "I am gonna make these giant cats my friends!!!"
"I like chicken I like liver..." I’m cracking up
Whispers!
Jannik, Yarn Ball, and Clarabelle
Creepy potion peddling lady that they have mixed feelings about is great
More whispers.
"It’s another chair, I feel they’re connected."
She’s heard of people having bad dreams. Fjord had a bad dream. *instert: "coincidence? I think NOT" gif here*
More whispers??
Why are we chasing these leads why are we not chasing Yeza??
"With you guys" what??
Is it a bunch of little, like, kobolds or something??
Madam Musk is a bunch of kobolds or something
CALLED IT
J: "She wants to be creepy okay let her be creepy."
Fjord gets hangry it’s canon
Oh lord who’s gonna decide to brawl the ogre
Is it gonna be Beau?
It’s gonna be Beau isn’t it
Okay is this woman the spy?
Oh wow Yasha is nervous
Oh god not the diamond
Matt has monked the monk oh no
This is off to a terrible start
The lesbian nod of appreciation
Lol Jester’s use of command nice job
Jester and her defensive hamster unicorns
lol Frumpkin acting as a distraction
Nott just low key stealing the diamond back xD
JESTER NO
Come on Beau babe mess her up!!
Beau is aroused
COME ON BEAU COME ON
NOO
NOOOOO
gdi they lost the diamond
Caduceus
nooooo
GDI it was so close
2hp oh god SO CLOSE
Caduceus you could have let her have it
They lost. A 300gp diamond.
If somebody dies and they don’t have that diamond I’m gonna die. And Jester will hate herself.
I feel like we have mad exactly 0 progress in saving Yeza but I don’t even mind because they’re clearly having so much fun in this City of Beasts.
KNEW IT I knew she had to be the spy
Dairon!!!!
I’m happy she’s alive
Awww Beau hugs
That was AWESOME
I’m excited because I like Dairon and I love mentor/mentee relationships and I wanna see more of her and Beau interacting
God I’ve missed being able to watch this live.
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lexbianrose · 5 years
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lesbian-kobold replied to your post “Don’t get me wrong, Into The Spider-Verse was pretty dang good, but...”
Babe nooooo
you cannot deny the truth that is Shrek 2 (2004), sequel to the hit film Shrek (2001) starring Mike Meyers, being both the greatest animated and greatest comedy film of all times, past present and future, forever and always until the heat death of the universe
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paladin-andric · 6 years
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A Past Life (Part 2)
The dragonoid shivered. Now that the adrenaline had worn off and his mind wasn’t fully preoccupied with fighting the dragon’s influence, he suddenly realized just how cold he was. The icy winds battered against his form, nothing more than a loincloth to keep him warm.
“H-Hey,” He asked, tapping one of the villagers on the shoulder, “W-What...season i-is it?”
The man turned around, brow raised. “...it’s nearing the end of harvesting season. Well into Sunfall and nearing Frostfall...are you alright?”
“F-Fine,” the black-scaled dragonoid replied, “I need...is there anyone willing to...part with clothes? J-Just rags will do, even.”
The man rolled his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do...”
The dragonoid took a deep breath, relieved. Now wearing a simple sheet of linens, he felt much better. It was little more than sleepwear, being a single, overly long tunic with no pants, but it still covered him, softening the icy sting of the wind. The breeze had really picked up all of a sudden.
“Thank you so much,” the dragonoid said, offering his hand.
“Don’t mention it.”
The dragonoid smiled as the man shook his hand, careful not to harm him with his long, daggerlike claws.
“No, seriously. Don’t mention this.”
“Our little secret.” The dragonoid winked.
“Thank you...” The kobold stood, arms crossed, eyes on the floor. He was wearing a shirt that was far too big for him, never intended for someone smaller than a human. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up as far as possible, leaving overly large bunches where his hands stuck out. The bottom of the shirt fell to the floor, leaving the kobold almost looking like some kind of robed wizard.
“No problem. Good luck on your...quest, you two.”
“Many thanks!” The dragonoid cried, “Once this is all sorted, I’ll think of some way to repay you!”
“Like I said; Don’t mention it.”
The two took to the road once more, Now better prepared. The howling wind was fierce, but not nearly as fierce as the desire to return. The inner battle raged on, the dragonoid fighting his urges and instincts as best he could.
After a few hours, the voices grew quiet. This happened before. The dragon’s power seemed to wane and wax over time, taking hold when the dragonoid had doubts, and weakening when he remembered how close he was. He suddenly realized that the kobold had been silent since they left.
“You’ve been quiet.”
The kobold glanced up at him, shrugging. “Not much to say, is there?”
“You’ve stopped asking to go back.”
 The little lizard rolled his eyes. “I know you’ll say no.”
“But you still wish to return?”
The kobold nodded. The dragonoid felt a twinge of guilt.
“Hey...do you...hate me?”
The kobold’s expression softened. “N-No, no of course not! We’re brethren.”
“But I’ve left. I’m not one of you anymore.”
The kobold smiled. “Ah, you’re just having doubts! You still hear master’s words, as I do! Once we get to the city you’ll see we don’t belong! Then we can go home, and be together with master and our brothers again!”
The dragonoid sighed and shook his head. HE was the delusional one! Once the influence was lifted, he’d see...
The trip continued in silence. A few travelers and caravans passed the duo by, shooting them confused and suspicious looks. Suddenly, as rain began to fall, the dragonoid spotted it on the horizon.
A city, surrounded by a massive river. The one from his dreams.
“I-It’s Cay City! We’re nearly there!” The dragonoid began sprinting, the rope growing taut as the kobold strained to keep up.
“Hey, slow down! I can’t keep-gah!”
The kobold fell to the ground, dragging behind the dragonoid his manic haze to reach the city.
“Heeeeey! Stop! Let me up! My shirt’s getting ruined!”
The dragonoid ran up to the drawbridge, putting his hands on his knees as he huffed. The kobold pulled himself back to his feet, covered in mud.
“Aww, look what you did...”
Before the dragonoid could reply, or even finish recovering, he suddenly felt two pairs of hands grab his shoulders.
He looked up, confused. The two offenders were guardsmen, wearing chainmail and helmets. They both looked enraged.
“There you are, dragonslaves.”
“What are you-”
The guards threw him to the ground, the side of his face slamming into mud.
“Gah! Hey, what the hell is your problem?!”
“What in God’s name made you mad enough to come back?” One of the guards asked.
“What are you talking about?! I’ve only just arrived!”
“Yeah, yeah, save it for the executioner.”
The dragonoid blinked. “The...THE WHAT?!”
Fear gripped the dragonoid’s heart as the two guards bound his hands with rope. He would almost be able to laugh at the irony of being forcefully restrained and dragged to Cay City, if he wasn’t going into panic.
“I-I-I don’t know what’s happening, but it wasn’t me! Please, I’ve come so far!”
“Stuff it minion. We know all your tricks. You’ll do and say anything to do your master’s vile work.”
The dragonoid was in shock. Was...was this the place the dragon ordered the raid?!
“Nooooo! Stop! Stop it!” The kobold kicked and flailed as another guard came over and started dragging him as well.
The dragonoid felt a pit deep in his stomach as the guards dragged him into town, through a crowd who began screaming and shrinking away in fear as the guards hauled him and his companion further into town.
As they were moved further and further into the city, the dragonoid saw something that shook him to his core.
Gallows.
They were telling the truth. These lunatics were actually going to kill him!
He suddenly thrashed in the guards’ arms, making them stop and work to hold him down.
“No! NO! You can’t do this! I’m not one of them! I was here to help! Stop it, you madmen! STOP IT!”
“Shut up!”
A swift kick to his face disoriented him just long enough for them to re-restrain him.
Squirming in the guards’ grasps, he was dragged before a crowd. A mob of commoners, poor and middle class surrounded him. Directly in front of him was...the man.
The bearded man.
“Rowland.”
The man’s eyes widened before quickly narrowing.
“How the HELL do you know me?!”
Oh, thank God.
“Rowland, it’s a long story. I didn’t used to be like this. You see-”
“Silence! Guards, execute him for his crimes!”
The dragonoid gasped as he was dragged backwards. “W-Wait, NO! There’s so much I have to tell you!”
The dragonoid and the kobold were carried up to the gallows. In front of the crowd, a masked man approached and began putting their heads into the nooses. Someone came over and placed the kobold on a stool, as he was too short to reach the noose.
“What did I tell you?!” The kobold cried, “Look at what’s happening! Is THIS your home?! No, master was all we needed! You abandoned him, and look at what’s happened!”
The dragonoid began hyperventilating, terror coursing through him.
He looked around in horror. All eyes were on him. Joyful, angry, reserved...yet no one looked concerned in the slightest.
“Help me...for God’s sake, someone HELP ME! Have you lost your minds?!”
“Shut up, you slimy wretch!”
The dragonoid winced as he felt something small and metal smack against his head. The crowd was throwing things at him. Cheering filled the air as the executioner readied him to be dropped.
“It...it can’t end like this...”
The dragonoid’s mind was a maelstrom of doubt as the kobold’s words rang through his head.
If you had never left, none of this would have happened, the dragon said in his mind. Look at what’s become of you. Are these REALLY your kinsmen? Would anyone who cares for you treat you like this?
“B-Be quiet...” The dragon laughed in his mind as his pitiful resistance died down.
You had everything. You were happy. This is the price when you throw that all away. You could have returned at any time. I would have spared you. Master’s mercy is unparalleled, unlike these barbarians.
The dragonoid gritted his teeth as the dragon’s influence filled him, pouring into the cracks of his resolve like a flooding ship. He even began to quit fighting. What was the point? He would be dead in a few moments, anyway.
Rowland approached, leaning into the dragonoid’s face.
“What is this about...leaving?”
The dragonoid’s resolve surged for a moment. Was he about to listen to reason?!
“I left the horde that attacked this place,” the scaled prisoner said, “I-I’m not one of them. Please, I’ve been through so much to get here. I was on a mission to reach you.”
“Me?” The bearded man looked suspicious, but at the same time, curious. The dragonoid quickly nodded.
“Why? Why ME?”
“There was a regiment of soldiers that were attacked a while ago. They were all killed...except two. They went missing. Please, this is extremely important: Did you know one of them? The missing persons?”
There was a long pause before the man replied. “...my cousin. He was the captain.”
The dragonoid’s eyes widened. “His name! What was his name?!”
An even longer pause. The man was hesitant, but he also seemed very curious as to where this was going.
“... Bartholomew.”
The dragonoid waited, but...nothing. He thought the memories would come flooding back, but...it seemed the dragon’s influence wasn’t that easily beaten. Still, there was something about that name, Bartholomew...
It felt RIGHT.
“T-That’s me! Rowland, it’s me! I’m Bartholomew!”
The man quickly gritted his teeth, snarling.
“You DARE insult his memory?! I’ll stop this execution and kill you myself!”
“N-No, wait! Listen! Please!” Rowland remained silent, glaring at the dragonoid in anger. It seemed he really was giving him a chance to explain himself.
“I was a human soldier that was captured with my friend here, and mast-I mean...the dragon...he...turned us into this. He warped our minds, along with our bodies. Our trip was so hard. Every step of the way, the voice of mas-argh! The dragon, I mean! Screamed at me, telling me to obey, to return. All I remembered was this city and your name. It’s all I had to keep me going. All I need is a priest or magician to dispel his wicked magic from us, and I’m certain we’ll remember everything. Rowland, please...it’s me, Bartholomew.”
He gazed into Rowland’s widening eyes.
“Help me.”
The man was silent for a moment before he turned to face the executioner.
“Stop the execution.”
The dragonoid nearly fainted, he was so relieved. Sudden shouts rang out through the crowd.
“Rowland, this is madness!”
Rowland waved the aristocrat away dismissively. “A single spell will tell us all we need to know. If he’s lying, to the gallows...but if this is really my cousin...” The man held his hand up, lightly brushing the side of the dragonoid’s muzzle.
“...what did he do to you?”
“I-It was so horrible,” he blurted, “Oh God, I’d wake up in the dead of night remembering who I was, unable to do anything about it.” Rowland nodded.
“Get someone that can combat this magic!”
Some time had passed since Rowland called off the execution. Him, the dragonoid, the kobold, and some guards were in a small chapel, waiting for the cleric to come down from her room.
Rowland was anxiously tapping his fingers on his lap, staring ahead at the alter. The kobold squirmed in his seat, eyes darting around. The dragonoid could only hold his head down as he quelled the dragon’s voice and prayed to God for help.
The main entrance creaking open made the dragonoid whirl around. There she was.
A woman in some brown robes. The outfit certainly wasn’t anything special, but the serious look on her face projected some presence, to be sure.
“Are these the ones?” She asked, voice flat.
“Yeah, this is...my cousin, apparently.”
“We’ll see. Stand up, and come here.” The dragonoid quickly complied, standing up and walking towards the woman.
“Undo the binds.”
“Mam?!” One of the guards looked over in surprise.
“Just trust me. This is for the sake of the spell. I can handle him if he tries anything, anyway.“
The guards hesitated before quickly undoing the dragonoid’s binds, rope coming off his wrists. He took a moment to sigh in relief and roll his wrists around before the cleric held her hands out.
“Put your hands in mine. And don’t try anything.”
The dragonoid did just that, standing motionless as their hands clasped together. He wondered just what she was-
Suddenly, it hit him like a boulder. He felt magic dig into his very essence, before tearing itself free, taking something along with it.
His knees buckled and his arms wobbled as he reeled in shock from the raw POWER he felt tear through him. The voices, they were...getting quieter?
Yes, they were certainly screaming at him as loudly as they could, but their words became more muddled, distant. One by one, they vanished. It wasn’t long before even the dragon’s voice was cast out, leaving his head empty.
There was nothing. His mind was blank, filled with nothingness. He felt so...alone. He almost wished the dragon would come back, just to give him something, anything. He was afraid for a moment, before suddenly, something else came flooding into him.
Memories.
All those brief moments in his dreams suddenly exploded in size and clarity. Like pieces to a puzzle, they began clicking into place, until it was all complete.
Bartholomew collapsed under the sheer volume of information that was flooding him. It all made sense. He could remember. He was Bartholomew, Captain of the Silver Swords, now gone...except for one other.
He quickly rose to his feet and turned to face the kobold.
“... Cornelius.”
The lizard’s eyes widened. “Cornelius? What’s... Cornelius? Why does that sound...so familiar?”
“That’s YOU!” Bartholomew cried, “That’s your name! You’re Sergeant Cornelius of the Silver Swords! And Rowland! You took me in after the raid on Onyx Village!”
“The Silver Swords...” The kobold muttered, eyes vacant.
Rowland looked happy, though his smile faltered. “It’s you...it’s really you...although...why are you...?”
Bartholomew frowned. “What? What is-”
He suddenly came to a stark realization.
“...why am I still a half-dragon?”
The black scales still ran along his body. His mind was restored, and yet his twisted form remained. He suddenly realized his shirt was in tatters on the floor. Why was that? What could possibly-
“...why do I have wings now?!”
Bartholomew panicked, his breathing intensifying as he felt the alien new limbs along his back. They were so large...bigger than he!
“That IS strange. Aren’t dragonoids always supposed to have those? Why were you wingless?” The cleric crossed her arms and inspected the dragonoid carefully.
Suddenly, it came back to him.
“The dragon said...I didn’t deserve them. They were too close to his likeness. They had to be earned.”
There was a brief silence as he bent his arms back to run his still clawed hands along the bizarre new additions to him.
“I don’t understand. Why am I not human?”
“Doesn’t work that way,” the cleric said bluntly. Bartholomew’s eyes shot open in shock. “What, you didn’t know? This isn’t a charm, or a curse...the dragon changed your very core. Rearranged you at your essence. There’s no residue of magic to take away. This is you now. Your mind was charmed, but your physical form is...just the way it is. There’s no coming back from becoming a dragonoid.
Bartholomew felt tears stream down his face. That was all he could feel, as everything else faded into numbness.
“N-No...no, this can’t be...I can’t be a half-dragon...I’m a human...I can’t live like this...”
“I’m sorry...there’s nothing more I can do. You’re just going to have to...learn to live with it.” The cleric’s face darkened as her gaze fell to the floor. Bartholomew recognized that look. The morning after the attack. A doctor had delivered the news that his parents didn’t survive the night. He had the same look of sorrow plastered on him. Not personal grief, but the heartache of being the bearer of bad news.
“Oh God...Oh GOD...please, God...help me...”
The cleric perfomed the same ritual on the kobold, who suddenly had the same revelations as Bartholomew did. He was Cornelius, no slave, no minion...a proud soldier of Geralthin. Yet, he remained a kobold, same as Bartholomew stayed a dragonoid...
“This...this shouldn’t be,” the cleric said, confused, “Minion Form is a simple transformation spell...you should be human.”
Cornelius looked down at his form in horror. “I...I thought...the dragon’s spell was finally broken.”
“I’m beginning to think this...magic...is something else entirely. If he didn’t use spells...hmm...you know, there’s a master sorcerer not to far north of here,” the cleric offered, “Perhaps...perhaps he might know something. If not, well...maybe the DRAGON could give us our answers...”
“The dragon?!” Rowland yelled, “You think HE’LL help us?!”
The cleric smirked. “Well...maybe if we geld him...”
Bartholomew shook his head. “What a fix...and yet...if what you’re saying is true...there’s still hope.”
The cleric shrugged. “Wish there was more I could do. I AM very sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Cornelius said flatly, “It’s that damn dragon’s fault...and...thank you. For...helping us remember.”
“Not a problem.” The cleric nodded and turned to leave. “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ve got some sick guy that needs my help.”
As the cleric left, Rowland stood up. “Cousin...”
The two stared at each other for a moment before they wrapped their arms around each other in a hug.
“I thought I lost you.”
Bartholomew felt the tears return. “I...I missed you, Rowland...”
“Listen,” Rowland said, “I’m going to help you beat this. I’ll do everything I can to help you with the sorcerer, and...I’ll even help you capture that dragon, if it comes down to that, but before all that...” Rowland leaned in, mouth next to the dragonoid’s ear.
“...you gotta come home and take a shower. You STINK.”
PHEW! Some “short” story! I’m really happy with how it turned out, though! This has the potential to become a full novel all on its own if I follow through on the trio’s quest! Let me know what you think, folks!
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