#elowyn o'toreguarde

[aquadestinyswriting]

Titan Modern AU- Chapter Four

Summary: Meredith and Elowyn have a chat with Starhammer regarding the shooting that took place two days ago, and what Fangthane's interest in it is.

Words: 1,798

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes @warriorbookworm, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @hippiewrites

Warnings: Political BS incoming.

Notes: Had to do a little more worldbuilding for this one. Enjoy the little history lesson.

Meredith hovered in the door an extra moment, before Starhammer’s flat stare forced her to march in and stand at semi-attention next to the sofa that Detective O’Toreguarde was now sitting in. Starhammer ambled back to his desk and sat on the edge of it, stroking his impressive moustache,

“I had rather been hoping that I’d misheard the name Gruksdottir gave me, Detective. Not that I’m displeased to see ye, mind, but given why I need to talk to you…” he trailed off, glancing over to Meredith, who was looking between the Detective and her Lieutenant with a politely confused expression. He ‘harrumphed’ and looked back at Elowyn, “Given the situation, I think it’s only fair that one of us explains a few things to Constable Gruksdottir.” he said. 

Meredith stood a little more at attention,

“Sir, if necessary, I can leave the room and get back to my post –” she started, before Starhammer held up a hand to cut her off,

“Negative, Constable. Command has requested that you be informed of the situation as it pertains to the security of the Kingdom with Toreguarde’s borders, seeing as you’re the only officer here besides myself for the time being.” he replied. The Lieutenant’s statement caused both women to frown in wary confusion, first at each other, then at the old man sitting in front of them. Elowyn sighed, then nodded,

“I suppose it would be advantageous to explain why and how you know who I am.” she conceded. She looked over to the Constable, whose frown of confusion had only deepened, “Lady Frigidwake and I know each other on a personal basis. She, and her friends, took me under their wing after the chaos of the attacks that almost destroyed Toreguarde ten years ago died down and we started to rebuild. We’ve become close since then, and consider ourselves as family.” she explained.

Meredith nodded as she took in what Detective O’Toreguarde had said,

“I, of course, had heard about the attacks.” she said, finally sitting on the arm of the sofa, her voice low. “I was only a bairn at the time, but my Uncle Snorri and my brothers, Alfie and Magni, were deployed to help in the defence of Toreguarde, in honour of the alliance between our states.” Meredith looked down at the floor, her hands gripping at her kilt, “Only my uncle made it back in one piece.” she murmured. She shook her head to clear the memories away and looked back up at the Torejar Detective and Lieutenant Starhammer, “However, I fail to see what Detective O’Toreguarde’s relationship with Lady Frigidwake has to do with the shooting that occurred two days ago.” she said.

Elowyn’s face fell into a sympathetic grimace as Meredith spoke. No one had asked Fangthane to send reinforcements, but they had been enough to secure Toreguarde’s continued existence. Without them, Elowyn dreaded to think what would have become of her home and what remained of her family. She, likewise, shook her head to clear away the unwanted memories and looked up at Lieutenant Starhammer, her face twisting into an unhappy grimace,

“I’m guessing word has reached Fangthane about what happened?” she asked. Starhammer nodded, his face, likewise, falling into an unhappy frown,

“Aye, lass.” he confirmed. He glanced over to Meredith, who was looking more confused than ever. He sighed and shook his head, speaking directly to Meredith for the moment,

“D’ye remember the attempted assisination of King Storri a few years ago?” he asked. Meredith sat more upright and nodded,

“Aye, sir, I was a cadet at the time, but it was the only topic of conversation back at HQ for at least two months after.” she replied. She glanced over to Detective O’Toreguarde, who was staring at the window, not moving a muscle, “I also recall the… upset over Toreguarde’s refusal to extradite the suspects back to Fangthane when they fled here.” she added. Starhammer nodded,

“Aye, that caused quite a lot of upset alright.” he muttered. He stood and walked behind his desk, “It will not surprise you then, Constable, to hear that those same suspects are currently being investigated for the attempted assisination of the Triumverate Council of Toreguarde.” he said, leaning on the desk and looking at Elowyn.

To her credit, Meredith thought, the only reaction Detective O’Toreguarde had to the statement was a very slight twitch in her jaw. She watched as the Torejar woman sucked in a breath and slowly let it out before speaking,

“Olin, I understand that you have a duty to the Crown of Fangthane. But I’m just a detective, I’m not someone who has any authority over the decisions of the Toreguarde Council.” She stated, “I was put on this case to track down and bring in any and all individuals responsible for the crime that was committed. No more, no less.” she added firmly. 

Starhammer blustered for a moment at the candid reply, before huffing an irritated sigh and sitting in his seat, the metal and plastic creaking loudly as he leaned back,

“I know ye don’t have that kind of authority, lass. That’s not why I’m annoyed.” he groaned, “The point is that I’ve been ordered by High Command – at the behest of the King’s Guard, mind – to try and convince the Toreguarde Council to agree to their latest extradition request.” he sighed.

Elowyn frowned in confusion once more,

“I fail to see the problem, Lieutenant. Yes, the Toreguarde Council has previously refused to extradite any members of the Grimbeard Clan back to Fangthane, mostly because they were seeking political refuge, claiming they were being targeted due to being open Throffites –” she was cut off by Meredith’s snort of derision,

“Bloody bollocks is what that is.” the constable muttered in Ghàidheal. Starhammer sent her a sharp glare, cowing the younger officer, before gesturing for Elowyn to continue.

Elowyn glanced between the two Fangthanians warily. Clearly there was some contention there. She shrugged it off and continued,

“However, given this latest turn of events; should any members of the Grimbeard Clan be convicted of the attempted assassination of the Triumverate Council, then I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to extradite them to Fangthane afterwards.” she said. Starhammer grimaced,

“That’s the problem, hen, His Majesty wants them extradited now, not later. High Command isn’t convinced that having them tried in Toreguarde first will lead to the request being granted. The expectation is that the Toreguarde Council will stall for time by insisting that the criminals serve their time here first, which could be at least another twenty years.” He shook his head, “I’m already arguing the toss about this with yer aunt.” he added.

Elowyn sat more upright, her face set into a determined grimace,

“While I appreciate that you think you’re trying to prevent any issues pertaining to my relationship with Lady Frigidwake – and her involvement in the mess that is the relationship between Toreguarde and Fangthane – I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. I’ve already cleared my involvement in the case with the Attorney General.” she said firmly. “In fact, I think she asked Fugit to put me on this case.” she added.

Starhammer blinked for a moment, ‘harrumphed’, then crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled,

“Right. Well now I know who to direct Selene to when she throws a fit about yer involvement.” 

“When she throws a fit about my almost getting shot you mean.” 

Starhammer pursed his lips, but said nothing in response. Instead, he turned his attention to Meredith, who was looking pointedly out of the office window,

“Gruksdottir, I do hope ye’ve been paying attention and not been daydreaming on the job.” he called. Meredith snapped her head around so she was looking at her Lieutenant,

“I have, sir, I simply believed it wise to not get directly involved in the latter part of your conversation as it seemed personal, sir.” she stated, trying her best not to look as offended by the comment as she felt. Starhammer nodded,

“Good.” he said, “Now that you know what’s what, I want you to look up any files we might still have here about the Grimbeard Clan and corroborate with Detective O’Toreguarde to make sure our records on them are up to date.” he ordered. “I might as well have something to give Sergeant Major Ragnarsson when he calls for an update.” he added with another grumble.

Meredith hopped off her perch, stood to attention and saluted,

“Aye sir.” she said. She looked over to Elowyn, who looked between both Fangthanians and nodded, also standing up. The detective gave the Lieutenant a short bow,

“I’ll have a talk with Captain Fugit about what other information we might be allowed to give you. I want to see justice done as much as you do, Lieutenant, and I’m not going to stop until those responsible are behind bars. Though, which ones those will be, I cannot say.” she told him. Starhammer sighed,

“I’m sure ye will, lass. Go on then, I’ll not keep you any longer. Gruksdottir, ye’re dismissed.” he said wearily.

Meredith saluted again, turned on her heel and marched to the door, holding it open for Detective O’Toreguarde and quickly following her out into the reception area. She gestured to another door across the small reception area,

“Why don’t we sort out that witness statement first?” the Constable suggested, hiding a small smile at the barely hidden flustered expression on the other woman’s face. Not that she thought the slightly shorter woman looked quite cute like this. Of course not.It was a strictly professional observation.

Elowyn’s eyes went wide and she ran a hand down her face,

“Cuthbert’s scales.” she groaned, but quickly collected herself, “Yes, of course. I apologise, that conversation with Lieutenant Starhammer derailed things a little bit.” she added. Meredith shook her head,

“It’s no trouble, I realised that we’d all gotten a bit waylaid.” she glanced at her watch. It was now 1:15. She grimaced as her stomach rumbled, loudly. Elowyn cleared her throat to cover up her snort of laughter at the flush of red that spread across the Fangthanian woman’s cheeks and nose,

“Tell you what, Constable, why don’t we grab you some lunch? Then, assuming Lieutenant Starhammer’s relieved you of guard duty in favour of looking into the Grimbeards, we can pop down the station and get the statement out of the way. Then I can find some information that might be of help to you after that’s done.” she suggested. Meredith blew her breath through her moustache with an annoyed huff, but nodded,

“Aye, that sounds like a plan.” she agreed. Both women then turned to the stairs and made their way down them in almost perfect lockstep.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy au #modern au #fictional politics #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #olin starhammer

[druidx]

Last line tag

Tagged by @raevenlywrites last Nov (oops - TY tho!)

This is from Elo Learns a Thing, a WIP set very early in Elo's Watch career, where Sargent Taube, her more experienced Watch partner, is explaining how to watch for patterns in people's behaviour and how that will help them catch a criminal.

"Young Ledford switches shifts with Howland once a month, works the night, takes a nap and then spends the day with his folks over in Bowyer’s Overlook."

Tagging: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic

#writing #tag game #last line tag #fighting fantasy #titan fighting fantasy #elowyn o'toreguarde #oc - Taube #wip excerpt #wandering words

[aquadestinyswriting]

WIP Intro: Titan Modern AU

Genres- Low Fantasy, Modern Setting, buddy-cop drama and shenanigans,

Themes-  found family, cultural adjustments, fighting against injustices, breaking the veil, fictional politics

Synopsis: Constable Meredith Gruksdottir of the Stronghold Guardian Corps division for the Kingdom of Fangthane has screwed up. Royally. A bust gone wrong has led to her immediate transfer away from her home city to work in the Fangthane Consulate of Toreguarde.

While working her way back up from the bottom of the barrel, Meredith ends up literally bumping into Detective Elowyn O'Toreguarde while the latter is investigating the notorious Grimebeard Gang, who are suspected of attempting to assassinate the ruling Council of Toreguarde. When the Fangthane Consulate is attacked by what appears to be a Toreguarde-grown Nationalist group known only as the Brotherhood, the two women are forced to work together to try and prevent war from breaking out between the two nations.

Taglist: (dm to +/-): @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @cljordan-imperium

Characters

Constable Meredith Ironforge (aka Gruksdottir)

Detective Elowyn O'Toreguarde

Captain Arthur Fugit

Lieutenant Olin Starhammer

Lady Selene Frigidwake

Chapters

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #titan fighting fantasy au #modern au #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #low fantasy #buddy cop adventure

[aquadestinyswriting]

21 and 22 for the otp ask!

Hi anon, thank you for the asks. I'll answer these for Elowyn and Meredith since they're the other characters on my mind at the moment. And also because I answered for question 21 for Selene and Edwin already. OTP ask game in question, and answers under the cut as usual. Tagging in @druidx because this involves Elowyn.

21. Who would get into a fight to defend the other's honor? Who tends to the other's wounds?

This is much more fun to answer for Elowyn and Meredith from my perspective because the two of them are as bad as each other for stuff like this. Elowyn generally tries to avoid fights, but I can definitely see her having words with anyone that insults Meredith, though it's unlikely that a fight will break out unless the person doing the insulting starts it. As for anyone insulting Elowyn within Meredith's earshot; If Elowyn hasn't heard them, or is looking the other way, Merri will definitely hit them first and ask the questions later. If the insult is bad enough, then she might hit them even if Elo is watching. Something, something Dwarven honour and duty etc.

As far as tending to wounds: While Merri has been properly trained to deal with injuries, both she and Elowyn are equally capable of healing and they'll probably share the responsibility.

22. What reminds each of their partner?

Since the relationship between Elowyn and Meredith is platonic, they're not partners in a traditional sense, but there are certainly things that remind them of each other since they both work in different cities that are quite some distance apart and they are very close.

I'll answer more specifically for Meredith's half, since Elowyn's creator will know better than me what will remind the woodling of Meredith. There are a few things that remind Meredith of Elowyn, namely the smell of worn down leather and, strangely, moss. I think she'd also associate strong, cheap spirits with her as well since it was established that Elowyn preferred her drinks rough back when she was able to drink alcohol. Generally though, it's getting into situations that remind Meredith of the time the two of them spent travelling together that will remind her most strongly of Elowyn. Given the scrapes they got themselves into during the campaign, and the work that Merri does now as High Inquisitor of Fangthane, a lot of them are eerily familiar and Meredith will sometimes forget that she doesn't have a woodling paladin and gold dragon mount backing her up. The number of times Meredith has accidentally called Yoruk (her *husband*, the man she knew decades before Elowyn and willingly got married to) some version of 'Elo' in the middle of a fight is a bit embarrassing, honestly.

#writeblr ask game #writeblr community #titan fighting fantasy #elowyn o'toreguarde #meredith gruksdottir #meredith+elowyn

[aquadestinyswriting]

Titan Modern AU- Chapter Three

Summary: Meredith gets a telling off for staying in the office past clocking-off time. Starhammer offers her a lift to her new place and she gets some time to settle in. Two days later, Detective O'Toreguarde returns to the Consulate to get that witness statement.

Words: 1,646

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes @warriorbookworm, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @hippiewrites

Warnings: None for this chapter.

Notes: 'Haud yer wheesht!' is one of my favourite Scots phrases. It basically just means 'shut up'. Tone can indicate the swearing in the middle when required.

“Gruksdottir, weren’t ye supposed to clock off at five-thirty?” Lieutenant Starhammer frowned as he walked past the computer in the main reception area, noticing that his new constable was sitting at it. The clitter-clatter of keys being hit in rapid succession paused as the short woman looked up from the screen,

“Writing up an incident report, sir.” she replied, ducking her head back down and resuming. Starhammer huffed out a sigh,

“About the shooting that occurred earlier?” he asked pointedly. Meredith nodded, not looking up from her screen this time,

“Indeed sir.” she confirmed, her tone distracted, “I had to leave my post to render medical aid to a Toreguarde Investigative Branch officer.” she added. 

“Gruksdottir, ye’re aware that it’s now ten minutes til six, aye?” 

“I am aware, sir.”

Starhammer growled, marched over to the desk and put a hand in front of Meredith’s face, blocking the screen,

“Then why are ye still here?” he ground out. Meredith frowned, the first time Starhammer had seen the expression on her face, and looked up at her commanding officer,

“Because I need to finish the report, sir.” she remarked, confused. Starhammer simply shook his head, grabbed the mouse, saved the document and closed it. Meredith pursed her lips,

“I was still working on that.” she grumbled. Starhammer shook his head,

“And now I’m ordering ye to go and bloody well clock off.” he retorted. Meredith spun the chair so she could send the lieutenant a confused glare,

“I did clock of at five-thirty, sir –” she didn’t get any further as Starhammer groaned, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose,

“That doesn’t make it better, Gruksdottir.” he sighed “In fact that makes it worse.” he added. He squinted one eye open, just in time to catch his constables’ bewildered expression before she schooled it. He sucked in a breath, lowered his hand and sat on the corner of the desk,

“Look, I understand that, back in Fangthane, things’re a bit more hectic, and I’m sure most officers are forced to work a bunch of unpaid overtime to meet deadlines set by politicians that have no idea how the world actually functions.” he noted, “However, that is definitely not the case here, and I’d rather ye actually went home after clockin’ off.” he held up a hand as Meredith opened her mouth,

“I wasn’t done, haud yer wheesht. While I do appreciate the enthusiasm, I find that writing reports as soon as an incident has occurred often leads to officers forgetting key details as they’ve not had a chance to fully internalise what happened. Make some notes, aye, but let yourself sit with it for at least a day before writing up a full report.” he suggested.

Meredith’s annoyed frown lifted into something a little more thoughtful as she took in what the lieutenant had just said. After a moment, she nodded,

“That makes sense, sir.” she said, moving to switch the computer she’d been using off. She paused momentarily,

“Sir, did Lady Frigidwake get back to you about lodgings for myself?” she asked. Starhammer beamed at her and nodded,

“That she did, lass. Actually, it’s a good thing ye were still here. Apparently a room just became available in a lodging house on Serpentine Road. It’s not too far from here, about a ten minute walk or so.”  he replied happily. Meredith nodded and finished turning the computer off, grabbed her Shanter and stood,

“Very well, sir. I’ll grab my things and check out of the Crabbit Sow, then make my way there.” 

Starhammer chuckled,

“Not by yourself, you’re not.” he told her, “I’ll give ye a lift to the inn, let ye grab yer things, and help ye get settled into your room.” he said, bringing out his keys and jangling them. Meredith, realising she wasn’t going to be winning any arguments with her Lieutenant, simply shook her head,

“Again, ye don’t need to go to such trouble.” she grumbled, “But I’ll not turn down the offer of a lift when it’s given.” 

An hour later, Meredith was standing in the room she would be calling home for the foreseeable future, looking out at the view over the canals from the window of her kitchenette. Starhammer smiled as he finished signing off the last bit of paperwork and turned to his constable,

“Right then, I’ll let ye get properly settled for the night. If ye need anything at all, here’s the number for my house phone. Dinna panic if one of the wee ones answers it, just ask if their grandpa’s available.”  he told her. 

Meredith repressed the urge to roll her eyes as she took the slip of paper and placed it on the counter,

“I don’t need babied, sir.” she told him. Then she smiled, “I do, however, appreciate what you and Lady Frigidwake have done for me.” she added. Starhammer beamed at her,

“Ye’re very welcome, lass. One last thing, before I pop off home to get assaulted by a three and five year old, when that T.I.B officer comes ‘round to get yer statement, bring them into the office. If the shooter’s who I think it is, I have some pertinent questions to ask them in return.” he said. Meredith frowned,

“Sir?” she asked. Starhammer shook his head,

“Stuff to do with High Command and the King’s Guard, hen. I’ll fill ye in when that officer pops by. In the meantime, I expect to see ye at 9am tomorrow and no earlier.” he said firmly. Meredith suppressed the urge to salute, though she did stand a little more at attention,

“Aye, sir.” she replied. Starhammer rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he grabbed his coat and finally left. Meredith cocked her head to one side, then walked back to the window she’d been looking out of. She watched the hustle and bustle at the docks below, pondering her Lieutenant’s words. She stroked her beard thoughtfully, then shook her head, turned away from the view and set about sorting out the shopping that Starhammer had insisted they pick up on the way.

True to her word, two days later, Meredith spotted the dark skin and brown hair of Detective O’Toreguarde approaching the Consulate entrance just as the nearby clock tower chimed 1pm. Meredith relaxed from attention and waited for the Detective to approach. 

Elowyn allowed herself a small smile as she noticed the Fangthanian woman relax when the clock tower chimed out the time. Discipline like that boded well for conversation ahead. She just hoped that the constable was able to remember what she saw the day of the shooting. Elowyn shoved the memory of her partner’s leg bleeding profusely through her hands to the back of her mind. Time to get that statement, then do whatever it took to catch the man who’d shot him.

The Torejar officer nodded in greeting as she stepped up beside the Fangthanian woman,

“Good afternoon, Constable Gruksdottir. I’m here to take down that statement if you’ve time?” she asked. 

Meredith nodded, and gestured to the door of the Consulate,

“Of course, Detective. I’m on lunch for the next hour so we’ve plenty of time. However, my superior officer has asked to speak with you regarding the incident we were both involved in.” she stated, walking towards the door and pulling it open. She gestured for Elowyn to walk in ahead of her.

Elowyn frowned, confused, walking to the door but not quite through it,

“Did your superior officer say why, Constable?” she asked warily. Meredith shook her head,

“Not in any explicit terms. I believe, however, it was to do with the individual who shot your partner.” she explained.

Elowyn pursed her lips. It wasn’t like the Stronghold Guardian Corps to insert itself in Toreguarde internal affairs, even if the man responsible for the chaos a couple of days ago was Fangthanian. Then she remembered why she and Breakwood had been chasing him. She sighed and stepped into the blessedly air-conditioned lobby,

“Very well, in the interests of maintaining some cooperation between our states, I can explain some details to your commanding officer.” she said. She looked back at Meredith as the other woman walked into the lobby alongside her. She suppressed her smile at how attractive the constable looked in that slate-grey uniform. Even the beard was somehow attractive on her. Too bad she was a witness and, thereby, completely out of bounds. 

Meredith, seemingly oblivious to the slightly too-long look the detective was giving her, walked on ahead, leading Elowyn across the marble-floored lobby and up the majestic mahogany staircase. It didn’t take long for both women to reach the upper floor and find the door leading to Lieutenant Starhammer’s office. Meredith rapped on the oak surface, then stood at relative ease as she waited for a response.

“Aren’t ye supposed to be on lunch, Gruksdottir?” Starhammer called from the other side. Meredith merely shook her head,

“Detective O’Toreguarde from the Toreguarde Investigative Branch has arrived to get that statement, Lieutenant.” she replied. Elowyn quirked an eyebrow at the pronunciation of Lieutenant, but didn’t say anything. There was a grumble, the slight screech of a chair being pushed across the floor, then the steady tromp of a decidedly rotund man walking to the door. 

Lieutenant Starhammer opened the door with a little more force than he probably intended, Elowyn realised as she noticed the Constable stand a little more to attention as soon as he had done so. The old man’s eyes widened as he took in the short stature, dark skin and ruffled brown hair of the Torejar woman standing next to his sheepish-looking Constable. He quickly schooled his expression, shook his head and gestured to the sofas,

“Well come on in then.” he groused, stepping to one side to allow both women to walk into the office. 

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy au #modern au #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #olin starhammer

[aquadestinyswriting]

Titan Modern AU- Chapter Two

Summary: Meredith takes guard duty as seriously as she does everything else in this job. While giving a warning to an ill-informed youth, Meredith witnesses the shooting of a Torejar police officer. Her Field Medic training kicks in and she rushes over to assist.

Words: 1,712

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes @warriorbookworm, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @hippiewrites

Warnings: shooting, blood, guns, violence, gunshot wounds, If I've missed anything please let me know.

Notes: This was a much tougher chapter to write than expected. There's a lot going on, but I've tried to keep everything as consistent as I possibly can. Also, yes, Meredith is using military time, as she rightly would.

Meredith steadfastly ignored the children that were doing everything in their power to try and make her move or speak,

“C’mon Larry, we’re gonna get in trouble.” one of them, a young pre-teen with blonde hair said, just as his companion took another step towards the woman. The taller of the two snorted disdainfully,

“Quit being such a wuss. It’s not like they can actually do anything!” he retorted. Meredith kept her eyes straight ahead, but was making a note of just how close the teenager was getting to her out of the corner of her eye. The teen stepped forward another two paces until he was standing directly next to Meredith, who still didn’t move. At least not until the kid reached out to try and grab her Shanter off her head. She quickly reached out, grabbed his wrist then quickly pushed him against the wall, twisting his hand behind his back,

“Bad move, kid. Lookin’ is fine, touching is a nono.” she stated. She glanced back to see what the blonde-haired kid was doing. He was standing rooted to the spot, face drained of colour. Meredith nodded to him then returned her attention to the teenager that was now struggling against her grip,

“Oi, geroff!” he complained, “So I reached out to touch you, that ain’t illegal!” he protested. Meredith shook her head,

“Actually, son, I think ye’ll find that it is.” she retorted, “Under Fangthane law, it’s illegal to harass an officer of the Stronghold Guardian Corps while they are on duty. Touching any part of the uniform counts, as does blocking their line of sight. I was just bein’ nice earlier.” she told him. The teenager snorted,

“Yeah, well we ain’t in Fangthane are we? This is Toreguarde and this is assault!” he cried. Meredith snorted,

“The Consulate counts as bein’ on Fangthane soil, pal. Now, I’ve every right to read you your rights and arrest you, but I’m feeling generous. I’m happy to let ye go with a warning, provided you don’t do it again.” 

Meredith didn’t get to hear the youth’s reply as a lanky Fangthanian man wearing a rumpled suit rushed past, quickly followed by two Torejar people wearing what seemed to be leather duster jackets atop dark blue uniforms. Probably members of the Toreguarde police force then. The Fangthanian pulled out a gun just as he was about to round a corner, aiming for the woman. Right as he pulled the trigger, the tall, lanky man shoved his partner to the side. Two shots rang out, causing every civvy in the area to scream and run for cover. The man took both shots, one in his shoulder, the other in his leg, and fell to the floor. 

Meredith immediately let go of the youth she had been warning and ran over to the prone officer, right as the other woman picked herself up. A crowd immediately began to form around the group as Meredith pulled the male officer’s coat open to have a look at his shoulder, then glanced down at his leg. Both were bleeding far more than she would have liked. She sucked in a breath through her teeth and looked up at the people milling around her. She pointed to one of them,

“You, call an ambulance!” she snapped, then pointed to another, “You, go in the front door of the Consulate. There’s a first aid kit on the wall on your immediate left. Grab it and bring it back here!” When neither person moved, Meredith growled, “Move it!” she snarled, already moving to place as much pressure on at least one of wounds the man had sustained as possible. 

The two unwitting volunteers nodded, one pulling out a mobile phone, the other dashing off towards the Consulate. Meredith grimaced, realising she didn’t have enough hands to stop the man on the floor in front of her from bleeding out since she couldn’t reach his leg from her current position. She looked up again, noticing that the female officer was hovering uncertainly nearby, her face pale and hand hovering over the holster of her pistol,

“Oi! I need another pair of hands here! You want this man to bleed out or not?” Meredith snapped irritably. 

The dark-skinned woman quickly shoon her head, as though coming out of a daze. She quickly knelt down next to her partner,

“Farren!” she yelped. She looked up at the other woman, “What do you need me to do?” she asked. Meredith gestured to the gunshot wound on the man’s leg,

“Put as much pressure on that as you can manage. With any luck I’ll be getting a hold of that damn first aid kit pretty soon, but I reckon that leg’s gonna need a tourniquet.” she replied. The officer nodded and placed her hands on her fellow officer’s leg. She winced at his hiss,

“Sorry, Farren.” she apologised. She looked over to the woman that was helping them, green eyes meeting blue,

“Thanks, I don’t know what I’d be doing if you weren’t on hand.” she said. Meredith shook her head, concentrating on the task at hand,

“Ye can thank me after we’ve got your pal here stabilised.” she replied. She looked up at the man with the mobile phone she’d directed to call for an ambulance, “How long?” she called. The businessman nodded, looked over to Meredith and placed his hand over the speaker,

“They’ll be here in two minutes.” he called back, quickly returning to the call. The woman that Meredith had told to get the first aid kit pushed through the crowd and handed the box to the Fangthanian woman,

“Here, is he going to be alright?” she asked. Meredith glanced up at her taking the box with one hand and opening it with practised ease,

“Hopefully.” she muttered. She pulled out a pack of gauze and a roll of bandages and quickly began patching the officer’s shoulder up. It wasn’t her best work, but it would have to do. She looked up at the crowd of people again, glancing briefly at the leg, which was still bleeding profusely through his partner’s hands,

“Anyone got a belt they can live withoot?” she called, her accent slipping with her rising anxiety as she felt the man’s breath begin to falter. Another businessman stepped forward, quickly unbuckling and unthreading the belt at his waist,

“I need a new one anyway.” he said, handing the item over. Meredith nodded, taking it. She shifted a little,

“Reckon you can keep some pressure on that shoulder for me while I try to tie this leg off?” she asked. The man nodded and quickly placed his hands on the bandage as Meredith took her hands away. Satisfied that the shoulder was taken care of Meredith shuffled next to the female officer,

“‘Scuse me.” she murmured, trying not to shove the other woman away too much as she manoeuvered into a position that would allow her to tie the belt around her patient’s thigh. The Torejar officer stared at Meredith as she worked. She opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of approaching sirens caused her to look in the direction they were coming from instead. 

The paramedics were quick to take stock of the situation and thanked Meredith for her quick thinking and resourcefulness as they loaded the male officer onto a stretcher. Meredith groaned and dusted off her hands as she pulled herself up again. She looked over to the female officer, who was hovering nearby. She was pale and sweaty and half in shock, Meredith noticed.

“You gonna be alright?” she asked. The Torejar woman nodded, wiping her bloodied hands on the towel one of the paramedics had handed her,

“I will be.” she said. She looked up at Meredith and held out a hand, “Thank you. You’ve saved the life of a good detective.” Meredith shrugged and shook the offered hand,

“I was only doing my duty.” she replied, “Part and parcel of being part of the SGC, Miss..” she trailed off, eyeing the officer expectantly. The Torejar woman coughed im embarassment,

“Oh, yes, sorry. There wasn’t time for introductions earlier. Detective Elowyn O’Toreguarde, Toreguarge Investigative Branch.” she replied, “The man whose life you just saved is Detective Farren Breakwood, my partner.” 

Meredith nodded and snapped off a quick salute,

“Constable Meredith Gruksdottir, Clan Ironforge, of the Fangthane Stronghold Guardian Corps.” she replied. She smirked a little at the slightly confused look that Detective O’Toreguarde was giving her.

“Gruks… dottir?” the detective murmured. The Torejar quickly shook her head and smiled, “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Constable, but I’d best go with my partner and make sure he’s not going to do something stupid when he wakes up. I’ll probably be by in a day or two to get a witness statement, if that’s alright?” she asked. Meredith nodded,

“Of course, Detective. I’m typically on guard duty between the hours of 09:00 and 17:30, with a lunch break from 13:00 to 14:00 hours.” she replied, “You’d be best getting the statement either during my lunch hour or after I clock off for the evening, as I’m not permitted to speak unless necessary during guard duty.”

Elowyn quirked an eyebrow at the reply and nodded again, scribbling a note into her pocketbook,

“Duly noted.” she muttered, “Well, I guess I’ll let you get back to it then.” she said, quickly bowing her head slightly before dashing off into the back of the ambulance just before the doors were slammed shut and it drove off to the nearest hospital.

Meredith shrugged, looked back to the front entrance of the Consulate and sighed, noticing that the two boys from earlier were long gone. Well, as long as the older one heeded the warning Meredith had been giving him, then there wasn’t anything else for it but to get back to work. She tilted her wrist, checked the time and marched back to her position. She still had another two hours before she could clock off, and it wasn’t like there was anyone else to take over. Maybe she could get away with handwriting a report summary until she could get to a computer to type up a full one?

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy au #modern au #violence tw #shooting tw #blood tw #gunshot wounds tw #guns tw #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #farren breakwood

[aquadestinyswriting]

Eye of the Storm

Summary: Elowyn helps Morag sort out some sort of breakfast while everyone else recovers from their assorted hangovers the morning after the trial's conclusion. Written for the Flash Fiction Friday prompt 'Found Family'

Words: 832

Tags: @druidx @homesteadchronicles @flashfictionfridayofficial @sparrow-orion-writes-orion-writes,@warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @blind-the-winds, @thesorcerersapprentice,@writeblrcafe, @ashiru, @writeblrcafe

Warnings: None

Notes: Based on an actual bit that was roleplayed out, but some creative liberties have been taken as I can't remember what exactly was said in the session any more.

Morag smiled at Elowyn as the woodling busied herself sorting out a pot of bloc,

"Ta for the help, hen." She said, straightening up again with a groan, "It's much appreciated." Elowyn shrugged her shoulders,

"I can't very well leave you to sort out everything for us all by yourself. Especially since no one else is in any position to, at the moment." She pointed out, nudging Snotgrut, who had fallen asleep curled up next to 'Arry in the corner of the kitchen, with her toe.

The green and brown lump groaned as the goblin stirred,

"My head is about to explode." He complained, "Why do people insist on drinking to excess if this is the outcome the next day?" He blinked blearily as a mug of hot and bitter coffee was thrust into his hands,

"This should help a bit, along with a decent breakfast." Elowyn told him. She turned her attention to the piece of rope dangling from seemingly nowhere, "Now how am I going to get this to Felix?" She wondered looking between the mug in her hand and the area where the rope seemingly vanished into thin air near the ceiling. She wafted the bitter steam up in the general direction of the Rope Trick opening after shouting for Felix to get up failed to rouse the gnome. Eventually Felix's arm shot out of nowhere, took the mug from Elowyn's hand with a mumbled 'Thank you' before vanishing once again. Elowyn shook her head as her ears picked up the renewed snoring from the extra dimensional space.

"That's the last time I get myself talked into a drinking contest with a dwarf." Quentin moaned as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"I did say it was a terrible idea, Quentin. Not that I have room to talk." Laurence groaned, collapsing into a chair at the table and burying his head into his hands. Elowyn clucked her tongue,

"Well that's what you get for going out and getting wankered isn't it?" She said, placing her hands on her hips. Neither man nor elf said anything and simply moaned into the table. She looked over to the younger woodling woman that now stumbled into the kitchen with a softer smile, "Lesson learned?" She asked. Aurianna nodded her head, wincing at the pain that lanced through her head at the motion. 

"Breakfast's pretty much ready. Just hold on while I get the rest of them up." Morag piped up, picking up the frying pan and a wooden spoon from the counter. Elowyn smiled, winced and covered her ears, gesturing for everyone else in the kitchen to do the same seconds before Morag started bashing the two implements together.

"Right! Come on, you lazy sods! Up! It's about lunchtime already!" The housewife's voice boomed through the house, echoing slightly, alongside the ringing of the frying pan. Various moans and groans of protest quickly followed suit, but Morag stood firm, simply banging the frying pan again when no one appeared on the stairs.

"I said up! Breakfast's ready and I swear on Moradin's bloody beard if I dinna see anyone down here in the next two minutes there's gonna be more than the hells to pay!" She snapped. Elowyn winced but turned her attention to her own little family,

"Well, seeing as our host was kind enough to make breakfast for us, I'm calling not it for the dishes." She said. Morag shook her head as she waddled back into the room,

"Och, dinna fash yerselves." She protested, "Ye helped more than enough the other night, and you all put in the work to see proper justice done." She beamed at the motley group of adventurers, "Besides, the lot o' ye are basically family at this point, and seeing as ye are, I'll not have ye taking on more than your fair share of the chores while you're here." Elowyn opened her mouth to protest when a rough, but blessedly familiar voice, came from the doorway,

"I'd save yer breath, hen. You were basically adopted the minute I brought ye back here the first time. Now, that includes the rest of you sorry lot."  Meredith added, poking at Quentin's ribs as she sat down next to him. 

"Oi! This is the thanks I get for helping you avoid the executioner's block?" The elf protested. Meredith stuck her tongue out at him,

"What help, ye pointy eared git? From what I can tell yer goblin friend did most of the work!" 

Elowyn stifled a laugh as others joined the friendly argument. A warm feeling settled in her chest as she looked around the cramped room as everyone finally converged around the table. Her family were finally all in one place, happy, healthy and whole. Well, half of it, the other half were back in Toreguarde after all. Once everything was taken care of she'd need to find a way to get the whole lot together. For now, though, this was all the family she needed.

#aquadestinyswriting #fangthane's folly and the anvil's fall #titan fighting fantasy #flash fiction friday #elowyn o'toreguarde #morag ironforge #meredith gruksdottir

[aquadestinyswriting]

Apologeticum Debet

Summary: A reply from Selene to the letter Elowyn left her in Si Quis Mihi. It may or may not have actually been sent.

Words: 560

Warnings: None that I can think of

Note: Why, yes, I am plugging my friend's writing with this one. Please do go check it out. I got inspired when re-reading the work linked above

tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes, @ashirisu, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch

Dearest Elowyn,

I know I’ve not been the easiest person to talk to this last year and a half. I regret to say that I allowed the stress of my job, and my fears, to get the better of me and I took it all out on you. That wasn’t fair. 

You are quite right, I did react out of both fear and love. Out of the mis-matched family those of us that were left created, you were one of the only two I had left that I could call as such. I had already lost everyone else (Edwin notwithstanding) and I could not bear the idea of losing you too. Especially to a plan that I, possibly mistakenly, believed had only succeeded due to sheer dumb luck.

I will admit that I was also deeply hurt at the fact that I was kept entirely out of the loop regarding said plan. While I may have initially wanted to go off half-cocked, I am not such a slave to my temper that I couldn’t be convinced to sit down and listen. I know my fits of temper are frightening to witness, but to know that it means that those around me feel I can’t be trusted to know of things that will initially upset me hurts far more than anything else in this world. 

Then again, here is the pot calling the kettle black. I ought to have more trust in you and your friends. I need to trust that you are more than capable of looking after yourself even in the face of greatest danger and that you will either come home safely, or you will turn to either myself or someone else equally qualified to help should anything go wrong. It does help to know that you have such capable friends, and that they seem to take great offence to your being harmed. As much as Snotgrut and his general social obliviousness annoys me, I am grateful to know that he has your back as much as Aurianna, Felix and the others. 

As for your replying to me as a watchperson rather than as family; I will admit that it did irk me that you didn’t seem to understand that I wasn’t looking for an oral report of the situation. However, given that we work together in a semi-official capacity most of the time at the moment, I acknowledge the fact that the professional and the personal have become inevitably intertwined in our interactions with one another. I can only hope that, once all of this is over, we can begin to untangle them. I’ve never really enjoyed having to interact with you, of all people, in such an official capacity and would much prefer to return to a more personable relationship.

For now, I can only apologise for my behaviour following the attack at the Plot Hook. I make no excuses for what I said and did, and can only promise that I will try to be better in future. I love you so much and I do not want to jeopardise our relationship for the sake of my own fears.

I hope we can have a chance to talk things out in person soon, and that we can get through a dinner or quiet drink without getting attacked in the middle of it. 

Love always,

Selene.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #the wizard's tale #selene frigidwake #elowyn o'toreguarde

[aquadestinyswriting]

How It Ends

Summary: Meredith can finally start to think about what happened right before the final battle against Ionah once the mother-in-law from the hells is Banished to the Pit.

Words: 705

Warnings: off-screen character death, grief, trauma.

Tags: @flashfictionfridayofficial, @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes , @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @writeblrsupport, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika

Note: this is another one based on events that happened during a d&d campaign session and is a dramatised version of what happened.

It was finally over. Ionah had finally been Banished to the deepest level of the Pit that I could manage to get her to and she wasn’t coming back. At least not for as long as I lived at any rate. 

My heart squeezes painfully as Elowyn looks over to me,

“That… thing she did with the symbol. What was that?” She asks quietly. I take in a shuddering breath, not wanting to acknowledge what that velskvinne had done as my already shattered heart broke further. I hate the way my voice cracks when I finally reply,

“That was – That was a connection to – to him.” I reply softly, not daring to look up at the literally angelic features of the woman kneeling next to me. I flinch a little as Elowyn’s Polymorphed form shuffles closer,

“And is he alive?” She pressed. As much as I know I can be vulnerable in front of her, I can’t bring myself to break. Not entirely. It’s probably because she’s so tall at the moment. The form isn’t right for the voice that comes with it. I close my eyes and shake my head. 

“I don’t – I don’t know.” I reply, my voice cracking some more as the reality of what happened at the beginning of the fight finally hits. I know I’m trying to deny it, hoping that somehow not seeing Yoruk die in front of me means he might still be alive somehow. The walls I was trying to hastily build up around my heart crumble as Elowyn reaches out and pulls me into a tight hug. I collapse into the warmth radiating from this angelic form, holding onto it as tightly as I can manage as my world finally shatters.

“You know that I would go back and beat her in the Pit a second time if it would bring him back.” Elowyn murmurs. The feathers of her borrowed wings tickle at my nose, but I pay it no mind as I try, and fail, to compose myself. It didn’t matter now that Ionah was gone. She’d got what she wanted. Yoruk was gone. Forever. His soul was obliterated, and not even a True Resurrection was bringing him back. We’d been married all of four months and now I was a widow.

I suddenly feel a smaller hand, brimming with arcane power, gently land on my shoulder. I jerk my head up and look over said shoulder, only to come face to face with a smiling Felix. The symbol on the back of his hand flares from blue-purple to white as he speaks,

“I Wish for all things to be well with you and all those you love.” he says, voice quiet and calm. His smile widens as a pulse of arcane magic washes over the three of us and out across the shoreline of Celestia. My breath catches in my throat as I feel the magical weave react to the gnome's desire. A Greater Wish. A spell so powerful it could reshape the very fabric of reality. And Felix was using this power to…

I immediately let go of Elowyn and grab Felix into the tightest hug I can manage, sobbing and hiccoughing into his shoulder,

“Thank you.” I finally choke out, relaxing my grip a little so my gnomosh friend could breathe. I feel Felix shake his head and pat me on the back,

“Well I know what it means to have a true love.” he murmurs, “And I know that you’d do the same for me if you could.” he adds softly. Of course. Had our situations been reversed, I would have done everything in my power to bring Dwena back for him and Felix is exactly the kind of person to put the needs of his friends above his own. I give Felix another squeeze and let him go, wiping my eyes on the sleeves of my vestments. Now that things have been set right, I can return to the Material Plane with my head held high. Well, there was one last awkward conversation to have to finally end this chapter of my journey, but first I’ll need to have words with Snotgrut about dropping the Polymorph he put on Elowyn…

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #flash fiction friday #grief tw #off-screen character death tw #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #felix parker-tinker

[aquadestinyswriting]

A Promise Kept

Summary: Meredith finally has the God Clay, so now all she needs to do is use to to permanently seal shut the Hellmouth underneath the Wizard's Tower

Words: 742

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes , @mariahwritesstufff, @ashirisu , @thesorcerersapprentice , @blind-the-winds , @philosophika , @the-down-upside-finch @flashfictionfridayofficial

Warnings: None

Notes: Many creative liberties have been taken with this short, the actual event in-game wasn't nearly this dramatic. Written for the Flash Fiction Friday prompt 'Seal it Tight'

My mind spins as we’re hurriedly admitted into the wizard’s tower. We’d taken so long to get a hold of the God Clay. What if we’d taken too long? What if I wasn’t strong enough to use it properly and couldn’t seal the hellmouth entirely? What if –

I feel Elowyn’s hand land on my shoulder as we stop in front of the door leading to the temporary seal. The action immediately calms my spiralling thoughts. I wasn’t going to be doing this alone. I had my friends with me and that was all I really needed. 

I shiver as we push the door open. A rush of negative energy washes over us and I suck in a breath between my teeth. We were cutting this awfully close. I’m not sure the others can see it, but the seal is definitely already cracking to my eyes and could break at any minute.

I shuck off my pack, practically shove it into Enezeage’s hands and pull out the jar Drakemar gave us to transport the God Clay in. I look up at my friends, who already seem to know exactly what to do. Felix, Darius and Enezeage take up positions around the little room, while Elowyn stays closer to hand. She smiles at me,

“I know you can do this.” She says as I pop the top off the jar and reach in to pull the slippery clay out of it. I grimace a bit, but steel my nerves and nod, saying nothing as Elowyn takes the jar from me. 

I take the clay in both hands, feeling a vaguely familiar tingle in my fingers as a soft, pale blue glow emits from both the clay and my hands. I kneel in front of the seal as I adjust my grip. I take in a deep breath, murmur a prayer, empty my mind, then cast.

My concentration is almost immediately broken by a sharp pull on my soul. I had been warned that it would do so, but the sensation is jarring. I grit my teeth and shove my panic down, focusing only on forcing the clay in my hands to act as I will it to. 

The pull lessens to a gentle tug, but the clay refuses to cooperate. I push more power into the spell, almost begging the stuff to do something. Eventually it begins to comply, slowly spreading out over the cracking earth in front of me. I can just about hear the demons chittering at my ear. Come on! 

I finally feel the clay reach the edge of the original seal, right as heat emanates from the ground below us and the chittering gets louder. There’s another sharp tug on my soul, hard enough to leave me breathless, before I feel the grip and pull of the clay as it completes its task. I reel back as the connection snaps off and I fall forward, only barely conscious enough to stop myself from landing flat on my face. 

I want nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but at least two sets of hands guide me to a sitting position and a piece of cloth is thrust into my nose and a tankard is shoved into my hands. I groan, not really able to parse what’s going on over the ringing in my ears and complete exhaustion nagging at my everything. Since we’re safe, it can’t hurt to let my eyes rest a bit.

I blink myself back to the physical world at Elowyn’s voice snapping at someone,

“All the Gods’ sakes! Give us a nieking minute, will you?! The woman’s exhausted!” she yells. The noise is enough to rouse my sleepy mind back to some sort of wakefulness. I force myself to sit up a little straighter as a crowd of people jam the doorway, cheering. I take a large swig of the ale that, presumably, Enezeage handed me, before nodding and pulling myself to standing. I can rest properly once we’ve informed the Toreguarde Council that they won’t have to worry about the seal any more. Hopefully, that will be enough to let us move freely around the city again. I look at the patch of grass and flowers that now occupy the area where the seal once was. I smile, before turning to my friends and walk out to face whatever chaos awaits us. I can only pray and hope that we’re up to the challenge.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #the troubles of meredith gruksdottir #flash fiction #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #enezeage

[aquadestinyswriting]

A Most Desperate Plea

Summary: Elowyn comes home from an errand only to be confronted by a desperate Yoruk, who is trying to get his wife to go to bed.

Words: 1,455

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes, @ashirisu, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch

Warnings: None. Domestic fluff is extremely fluffy.

Notes: This takes place less than a week after baby Gavid's birth. Everyone's a little bit stressed and sleep-deprived.

Elowyn winced at the noise that hit her the minute she opened the door to the house she was currently calling home. Gavid, bless his tiny little heart, was screaming his head off and the woodling could just about pick up Yoruk’s voice pleading in desperation under the din. Elowyn quickly pulled her boots off and grimaced at Aurianna, whose ears were currently flat against her head in an attempt to block out the noise. The paladin was just getting up to see what was going on when Yoruk exited the living room, his face screwed up in tired frustration. His eyes widened the moment he saw his wife’s guardian,

“Elo! Oh thank Moradin ye’re back! I’ve spent the last hour tryin’ to convince her to let me have Gavid for an hour or two so she can get some sleep, but she’s no’ havin’ it.” Yoruk’s voice was strained and he sagged as he placed his hands on Elowyn’s shoulders. Elowyn frowned, gently pushing the much taller man’s hands away,

“I thought your aunts Marla and Ristia were coming over to help out for a bit?” she asked, “Have they tried?”

Yoruk scoffed out an exhausted sigh,

“Aye, Auntie Marla gave it a shot half an hour ago. I’m no’ gonna repeat what Merri told her to get her to back off. She’s in a right state, and the bairn’s no’ happy about it, which is just making things worse.” 

Elowyn took in a deep breath and whooshed it out. She glanced at the golden kitten that was still sitting on her shoulder,

“Can you keep Yoruk company for a bit while I try to knock some sense into her?” she asked, wincing as the wailing from the living room reached an ear-piercing shriek. Aurianna launched herself from Elowyn onto Yoruk,

~No problem! I didn’t think babies could get that loud.~ the kitten replied in her head. Elowyn reached up and scratched her soul-bonded behind her ear,

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I’ll see if I can’t get her to hand Gavid over so I can calm him down.” she said. Yoruk nodded and took over petting the kitten. He picked up the bag Elowyn was about to abandon and sent her a tight smile,

“Good luck.” was all he said before he retreated further down the hall to the kitchen.

Elowyn poked her head around the door of the living room, her face falling at the sight that greeted her. Meredith was pacing around the room, her hair hanging limp and a muslin cloth thrown over one shoulder. Gavid, his little face beetroot and wailing, was laid over the cloth while Meredith patted at his back and gently bounced as she walked.

“C’mon, luachmhor, what’s wrong?” she pleaded quietly, her voice tight. Elowyn knocked on the door, stepping just over the threshold,

“You alright there, Merri?” she asked. Meredith spun around, startled. She instantly relaxed the moment she saw Elowyn standing in the doorframe. The dwarven woman was pale and the shadows under her eyes, that were seemingly ever-present, looked darker than ever. She smiled tightly,

“Aye, I’m alright. Jus’ tryin’ to get the wee pebble to settle is all.” she replied, wincing as the dwarflet in her arms screamed again. Elowyn nodded, stepping cautiously towards her oldest friend,

“Do you want me to take him for a bit? I mean, you were already up with him all night, you really look like you could do with a break.” She grimaced as Meredith’s grip on the dwarflet tightened and the other woman took a step back,

“I’ll be alright, hen. I’ll hand him o’er once I’ve got him settled.” she replied, smiling tiredly at the woodling. Elowyn sighed, clearly exhaustion had made Meredith even more protective than she already was. She glanced at the wailing infant, then looked back at Meredith. While it wasn’t the best of comparisons, the only thing she could think of that could help was to react as though this was a hostage situation. It wasn’t, of course, Elowyn knew Meredith would rather die than hurt her baby boy, but she did need to hand him off to someone else for a few hours. The woodling kept her stance as relaxed and open as she could manage and stayed where she was,

“Yoruk told me you’ve been trying to settle him for the last hour.” she pointed out, “If there’s nothing else he–” she was cut off as Meredith shook her head, glaring at her,

“He’s been fed, burped and changed.” she snapped, earning her another screech in her ear for her trouble. Elowyn held up her hands,

“So if there’s nothing else he needs,” Elowyn continued, as though she hadn’t been interrupted, “then, perhaps putting him down for a few minutes will help?” she suggested. She shook her head at Meredith’s glower, “I know you think you’re protecting Gavid by keeping a hold of him, but it’s not helping right now.” she pressed. Meredith’s glare held for another moment, before it finally relented into tired desperation,

“I’ve tried everythin’ ‘Lo. I know I should let Yoruk take him after his feed, but I can’t do it when he’s like this.” she choked. Elowyn nodded, gingerly stepping towards Meredith again,

“Merri, you’ve had Gavid for less than a week.” she pointed out, “No one expects you to have it all figured out.” The woodling held out her arms, “Come on, you can’t help the sapling if you’re too exhausted to think straight.”

Meredith hesitated, her heart still unwilling to let her wailing infant son go. However, when he screeched even louder, she grimaced and gingerly brought him down from her shoulder and placed him into Elowyn’s waiting arms. She dithered, watching as Elowyn adjusted her grip and started bouncing the dwarflet and shushing him. The wail didn’t quite stop, but it did grow a little quieter. Elowyn smiled up at her best friend,

“Go to bed, Merri.” she insisted, “Gavid will be fine, I promise.” When Moradin’s High Inquisitor still didn’t move, she huffed a sigh, “Meredith, I will get Aurianna to drag you there and sit on you in dragon form if I have to.” she warned. The dwarven woman frowned, huffed out another sigh and grumbled,

“Ye’ve been hanging around Snotgrut and ‘Arry too long.” she mumbled, “Wake me in an hour or two. The wean’ll want feeding about then.” she added. Elowyn nodded,

“Sure thing.” she said. Meredith took one last longing look at her son before setting her jaw and forcing herself to turn around and walk out of the living room. Elowyn smiled as, within a minute of his mother leaving the room, Gavid finally started to calm down, settling into a small hiccough as he stared up at his faddri. She shook her head,

“There we go, that’s much better isn’t it?” she cooed, “Let’s go find papa and let you have some time with him while I go check in on mama, huh?” she said, continuing to bounce the baby dwarf as she walked through the door on the opposite side of the large room, which led directly into the kitchen.

As soon as Elowyn dropped Gavid off with his father and cooing great-aunts, Elowyn strode up the stairs and looked in on her clerical friend. Meredith was laid flat out on top of the crumpled bedsheets, clearly too tired to get around to taking off her housecoat. Elowyn shook her head and gently stepped inside the dark room and made her way over to the bed. She had just tugged the muslin cloth Meredith had been using earlier free, when the dwarf stirred,

“Time fer’nother feed already?” she slurred. Elowyn rolled her eyes,

“No, it’s been barely ten minutes.” she replied, “I was just grabbing the cloth in case Yoruk needed it.” 

Meredith mumbled a little, and squinted open an eye,

“Ma wee uan alright?” she asked. Elowyn nodded, sitting down on the edge of the mattress,

“He’s fine. He’s stopped crying and is being fussed and cooed over by Marla and Ristia.” Meredith heaved a tired sigh, letting her eye slide shut again,

“‘M glad. Sorry ‘boot earlier.” 

“It’s fine, Merri. Like I said, you’re too tired to think straight.” Elowyn said, “Go back to sleep, I promise I’ll wake you when the sapling gets hungry again.” she soothed.

Meredith mumbled something else, but not even the paladin’s sharp ears could make out what she said. A moment later, the soft snoring from before resumed. Elowyn smiled, sighed and pulled a sheet over the cleric, then headed back down the stairs. The Gods willing, Meredith would get enough sleep to at least be somewhat functional when she got back up.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #meredith gruksdottir #yoruk bloodvein #gavid bloodvein #elowyn o'toreguarde

[aquadestinyswriting]

Land of Eternal Summer

Summary: Snotgrut has convinced his friends to come with him on an errand off-plane. The only problem is, he didn't bother telling anyone exactly which plane they were visiting in an attempt to give people a pleasant surprise.

Words: 857

Tags: @druidx @homesteadchronicles @flashfictionfridayofficial @asher-orion-writes,@warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @blind-the-winds, @thesorcerersapprentice

Warnings: None

Notes: Set in a vague time period around 5-7 years post DNS. 'Arry couldn't get time off :(.

Sunshine filtered through the canopy of the forest, dimly lighting the simple footpath that had been trodden through the undergrowth. A gentle and warm breeze wound its way around the eclectic group of people making their way through it towards the edges of a small village nestled snugly within the seemingly neverending forest.

"Remind me again why I've been dragged back to this godsdamned plane?" Meredith groused, readjusting the pack on her shoulder for the millionth time. Snotgrut's left ear twitched, but he didn't look back at the grumpy dwarven woman as he replied,

"You didn't ask where I was planning on going." He pointed out. The goblin briefly turned his head to frown in confusion at the cleric, "I'm not sure why you're so upset anyway. From what I heard, you guys are going to be very welcome here. Way more welcome than I was during my last visit anyway." 

Felix skipped ahead of the others until he fell in step beside his goblin friend,

"You'll be just as welcome as we are, Snotgrut." The gnome stated happily, beaming at his fellow Arcane Trickster, "The elves of Arborea have long memories and won't have forgotten what you did for them the last time you were here."

"Aye, that's the problem." Meredith grumbled, glancing over to Elowyn. Elowyn glanced back at her friend with a tight smile,

"If I'd known this is where Snotgrut's 'errand' was going to take us, I'd have happily stayed home with you." She sighed. The woodling glanced up at the sparkling spires of a temple to Deep Sachellas that had now come into view. Aurianna, who was currently riding on Elowyn's shoulder in kitten form, nuzzled into her neck with a reassuring purr,

"If we asked them nicely, I'm sure Felix and Snotgrut can create some sort of distraction if you get too overwhelmed and need an escape." The dragon-turned-kitten suggested. Elowyn scratched Aurianna behind an ear,

"They might end up creating one anyway." She pointed out, "You know as well as I do what usually happens when those two are in the same place for more than half an hour." Meredith snorted and smiled for the first time since arriving on the elven plane,

"Aye, well, you'd ken better than me." She said. Quentin suppressed his own snort,

"Why would you guys even need a distraction anyway?" He asked, "Well, I can think of why Elowyn might want one, but I'm not sure why you'd need one. Unless…" The elve's eyes narrowed as Meredith stayed quiet, an embarrassed flush spreading across her face under her beard. Elowyn, catching Quentin's expression out of the corner of her eye, immediately stepped in front of Meredith, as the dwarf's embarrassed expression dropped into one of outraged offence,

"Oh, Gods, no!" She exclaimed, "None of us had any time for that kind of activity. Well… 'Zeage might have, but definitely not the rest of us." She stated, her words coming out far more quickly than she intended. 

Felix and Snotgrut had stopped and turned to see what the commotion was about at this point and were staring at their three friends. Snotgrut with a look of befuddled confusion and Felix with a sudden look of understanding. The gomish man looked back towards the spires,

"Oh! I think I understand now. This is the same village we stayed in the first time we came here." Felix turned back to Snotgrut, "After Merri managed to use some God Clay to resurrect Deep Sachellas, the elves here were so grateful they pretty much declared her to be some sort of Living Saint." He explained. He looked back towards the path leading to the village, "I wonder if they finished that statue they were talking about making?" He murmured. 

Snotgrut blinked as Felix rattled off his one-sided conversation slash explanation. He had, of course, known about that particular incident. The gnome had told him all about it during their last visit to Arborea, after all. It just hadn't occurred to the goblin that Meredith might be embarrassed about it. He cocked his head as he considered what to do about it. Another warm breeze brushed over him, allowing some of the eternally summer sunshine to drop directly onto him. The goblin sighed and shook his head, 

"None of you have to come into the village, but I don't think any of you will be able to get food, drinks or beds out here." He called, pointedly ignoring Quentin's call of 'I'm pretty sure I can!', spinning smartly on his heel and marching up the footpath. Felix scrambled after him, grinning happily. Quentin shrugged and quickly strode off after the goblin and gnome.

Meredith grumbled, uncrossing her arms and gesturing for Elowyn and Aurianna to follow,

"We might as well get this over with." She groused. Elowyn sighed and nodded. The quicker they all got there, the quicker they could escape again.

The trees swayed in the strengthening wind. Just because it was eternally summer here didn't mean the weather was always pleasant. Especially this close to the coast. And especially when Deep Sachellas was done with his siblings' antics.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #aurianna #felix parker tinker #quentin goldenrose #writeblrcafe #flash fiction friday

[aquadestinyswriting]

Writeblr Cafe Playlist Challenge: Days 3 & 4

Woops, looks like I missed yesterday's post, so you're getting two for the price of one today. As usual, the challenge is from this post and is part of the ham and cheese prompt. Again tags are merely to share this with interested people on my taglist

Tags: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds

So let's kick this off with the song I did have chosen for yesterday's post:

This is one I have on my generic playlist for writing the Titan campaign stuff and is more particular to the Destiny's New Servants crew. Slightly more specifically, I listen to it when I'm writing about Meredith and Elowyn. Now anyone who's read any of my writing knows that the relationship between these two characters is the one that is closest to my heart. The two of them are quite literally ride or die for one another, with Elowyn most likely to take the 'die' option, much to Merri's chagrin (not that Elowyn has any death wishes, it's just that she ends up placing herself in front of the danger more often than Meredith does. Paladins, amirite?).

This is one of the few songs I've found that is entirely platonic in nature and doesn't have any romantic undertones. The lyrics for it are absolutely wonderful too; the theme of a guiding light applies to both of them since one is a cleric and the other a paladin , both divine casters and classes that lend themselves well to the notion. Merri was the original guiding light, being a cleric from the get-go, but Elo was always one as well; it just took a bit of time for her to grow into it. I am also in love with the idea of home not always being a place, but a person too. Merri and Elowyn are two women who were drawn together from the start and have found a home in one another's company. Despite the two of them placing their duties to their respective peoples over their own happiness more often than not, I think they're both happiest when they get to spend time in one another's company.

Right, onto today's pick:

Let's get sappy, because this is my playlist and I am a huge sucker for 90's-00's Irish boybands waxing lyrical about love.

This one is on the playlist for The Wizard's Tale, and is one I chose specifically for Edwin and his feelings for Selene. I use this song to get into Edwin's headspace, especially before the whole drama that is To Heal a Broken Soul. Now, Edwin is a character that has seen at least two of his friends give up the loves of their lives in order to go save the world and has thoughts about that. As much as he is sure that his feelings for Selene will likely never be reciprocated (at that point), he is determined to at least make a go of it even if the whole damned world is at stake, because he honestly believes that to do otherwise makes him a coward. Edwin, in my mind, is a massive romantic at heart, and of course he would use floral metaphors because he's the cleric of a nature goddess.

There is also the fact that Edwin knows that love is work. You need to tend to it, much like you would a seed so it can bloom into a beautiful flower, and that there's a chance that, despite his best efforts, it might never even sprout. I think there's something to be said about how much courage it actually takes for him to acknowledge that, even if his actual confession about his feelings occurs at a point that anyone else on the planet would call far too late. Good thing this is all based on a d&d campaign, huh?

#aquadestinyswriting #writeblrcafe #wc prompt #the wizard's tale #edwin goodwin #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #Youtube

[aquadestinyswriting]

Puzzle of the Heart

Summary: After finally getting the book the party has been sent to Khull to find, Meredith finds she can't sleep due to her conflicted feelings for a certain woodling rogue-just-turned-Paladin. First person pov because that's the only way this makes any sense.

Words: 992

Tags: @druidx @homesteadchronicles @asher-orion-writes,@warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @blind-the-winds , @thesorcerersapprentice ,@writeblrcafe , @ashirisu

Warnings: None. Fluffy fluff is vey fluffy

Notes: Not entirely happy with the title, but it'll do for now. Set in an earlier part of the Destiny's New Servants Campaign, so Merri is still kind of feeling out Felix and Darius at this point. I recall that the fight mentioned in this one took place less than a week after Elowyn died to a giant dire weasel and was resurrected as a vassal of Kurtulmak.

I huff out a tired sigh as I turn over yet again. It's been a long and very stressful day, so why can't I get to sleep? I open my eyes and my gaze falls onto Elowyn's back. The lassie's fast asleep and has been for what feels like hours.

I can't help but feel relieved to know that she's still here, still breathing, still living. It was only thanks to Vespus' sacrifice and Father Remulos' intervention that any of us made it out of that crypt alive. It’s not like it’s an unusual situation for us, though – we’ve been in plenty of scraps where any one of us could have died before – so why did this instance bother me so much?

My mind flashes back to when we first confronted the half mechanical monstrosity that had taken up residence in the crypt. The way it had turned around and instantly started gibbering about revenge against Elowyn, for reasons only known to it. I don’t know why, but something about the way it only seemed to fixate on her had made me so incredibly uncomfortable. I mean, at least Enezeage had the excuse that he had been tasked with Elowyn’s safety as well as mine by Starhammer during our escape from Toreguarde. So why did I feel that swell of indignant and protective fury? I mean, I’d understand it if it were Yoruk, but why did it come up in that way with Elowyn? I’m not interested in her romantically. It’s not like I’m not protective of everyone else here either. Anyone threatens Darius of Felix, they’re getting a Flame Strike straight down the gullet, and I’d at least ask ‘Zeage if he needed a hand or some healing before stepping in. It’s no different with Elowyn… isn’t it? I let the thought sit for a moment and realise, no, it’s not. For any of the others I’ll do everything I can to make sure we all get out of it alive. For Elowyn, I would willingly die in her place if I had to. 

I shift again as my arm starts to fall asleep, still keeping my bleary eyes locked on Elowyn’s back. My stomach squirms uncomfortably as I remember how I felt immediately after the woodling’s death at the paws of a giant dire weasel only a week or so ago. Perhaps it was because the deaths of Lorcian and Alphonse were still so recent, but I recall the way my heart shattered when Elowyn’s screams were cut off by that sickening crunch. I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling of the church we were temporarily staying in. The symbol of Pelor greeted my eyes, almost glowing in the dim moonlight that seeped through the cracks in the windows. While I was no devotee of the Dawnfather, the sight of the symbol calmed my anxious heart. I reach for my holy symbol, taking it out from under my vestments and gazing at it with a weary sigh. Too much had happened in just the last month or so for me to truly process it all, but I needed to continue to dust myself off and carry on. Too much was at stake for me to wallow in self doubt and pity. And yet, I needed to figure out what was going on with my muddled feelings towards Elowyn if I hoped to carry out the duty I had been sent out of the mountain to carry out. From what little of the book we’d found in the crypt I’d read before we settled down to sleep, I needed to have a completely clear mind and conscience to even manipulate the God Clay properly. I couldn’t very well do that if I was still figuring out my relationship with one of my closest friends. 

I take a deep breath in and whoosh it out as quietly as I can manage, turning my holy symbol in my fingers as I think through everything that had transpired between us. We worked well together, that much was brazenly obvious. Not just in battle, but in more day to day interactions with the rest of the world. We were basically sisters in all but blood at this point, given everything we’d been through so far. Alright, so I could at least say for certain that there were no romantic feelings involved. That was a good start all things considered; it would have made things incredibly awkward otherwise. Not to mention the agony of having to choose between the love I'd found on my travels and the love I'd already promised myself to. I lie quietly for another moment or two before an old dwarven phrase enters my mind; Cridhe-dàime. It wasn’t a phrase that was commonly used, especially to describe a relationship with another who wasn’t a dwarf. It was laden with so much meaning and was so specific to dwarven culture, was it really the appropriate phrase to use with regards to my feelings towards Elowyn?

The confused sea of emotions calms the moment I think of the words, my heart filling with the warmth of loving contentment. The little hammer in my hands grows warm to the touch too, an indication that Moradin clearly approved of the idea. Well, that settles it; if my own deity sees no problem with my referring to Elowyn as my Cridhe-dàime, then I had no reason not to. I look back over to the woman sleeping on the bedroll next to mine, a wave of sleepiness finally hitting me. I tuck my holy symbol back underneath my vestments, there would be time to sort out the rest of what this all meant in the morning. For now I’m just grateful to actually get some damn sleep before we have to find our way back to Fangthane. My eyes finally flutter closed and I sigh happily as I drift off into, hopefully, dreamless slumber.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #meredith gruksdottir #elowyn o'toreguarde #destiny's new servants #ttrpg fiction

[aquadestinyswriting]

Slipping off the Mask

Summary: Inquisitor Garl Grimbeard has recently returned to Toreguarde and asked Meredith to look for one of his nieces. A commotion outside, however, distracts the young dwarven cleric from her task

Words: 2,546

Warnings: a description of a severed head, fantasy religion, fantasy xenophobia and some mildly bad language

Notes: This is a repost of the original so I could add in some extra bits I'd forgotten about in the original story.

tags: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @writeblrsupport, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds

The inside of the Temple of Moradin was oddly quiet and sombre, Meredith realised. Was it the acolytes huddling in the far corner of the bar, all of them attempting to avoid the attention of the recently returned Inquisitor Grimbeard? Or was it the quietly gruff conversations between the older, more experienced clerics about how it was too damn quiet and that nothing had gone wrong within the city for at least the last month? Whatever the reason, Starhammer was quite correct in his assertion, it was far too quiet, and Meredith wasn’t sure she liked it.

The cleric paused by the door leading to the cellar, some instinct nagging at the back of her mind. She cocked her head, listening to the muffled voices on the other side of the door,

“Hurry it up, we don’t have time to be lollygagging like this!” 

“Give us a break will ye? We’re goin’ as fast as we can. D’ye want us to drop them?”

“Stop makin’ excuses. Get yet lazy arses into gear afore I have to give ye more of an incentive.”

Meredith frowned. She recognised the dulcet tones of Inquisitor Grimbeard, but not the other voice. The rest of whatever conversation was going on was quickly drowned out by the thud and rattle of bottles being moved around. Her stomach churned, why did Grimbeard sound so much like the Duregar she’d briefly met in her short visits to Wyrmholme? Most dwarves of Fangthane would rather shave than do anything to compromise the integrity of their drink. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as the door opened, causing Meredith to almost stumble onto her backside. Grimbeard glared at her, closing the door behind him a little too quickly,

“Watch where ye’re goin’ girl!” he snapped irritably, “What’re ye doing hanging around outside doors for anyway? Don’t you have anything better to do?” Meredith dusted off her vestments and gave the skinny, greasy dwarf in front of her a short bow,

“I was on my way back up to the bar after speaking with the high priest.” she replied as calmly as she could manage. Her nose wrinkled as she caught a faint whiff of acrid acid, but she kept her expression neutral as she came back up to standing. Grimbeard snorted and jerked his head towards the bar,

“Well if ye’re heading up that way, go find my niece and tell her I want to see her down here.” he sniped before turning to go back into the cellar. Meredith frowned as she heard him mutter something about the “young’uns being lazy sods”. She waited until the door was closed again before snorting and traipsing up to the bar. A part of her wanted to ignore the Inquisitor’s request, especially since he hadn’t bothered to give her a description of said niece. However, the more sensible part of her encouraged her to try anyway; it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Meredith huffed a sigh as she looked around the barroom. It was busy, but not so much that she couldn’t spot the lone woman sitting by herself in a dingy corner, nursing what was probably one of the cheaper beers available. Meredith shook her head and started to approach the other woman, to at least ask if she was the person Grimbeard was asking for.

A crash from the front doors of the temple caused everyone within the bar to look at the doors leading outside. As one, all the dwarves in the bar looked at one another before bundling outside to see what the fuss was about. While drama was a daily occurrence that was often gossiped about for weeks or months afterwards, it was rare for it to happen within the walls of the temple itself. Meredith squeezed past the crush of people around her, listening to the sound of raised voices coming from the front doors. Voices that sounded all too familiar,

“‘Scuse me. Comin’ through. Will ye move yer fat arse oot the road already!” Meredith’s voice became more terse as she recognised the voices of Elowyn and Darius, along with Inquisitor Grimbeard’s. Eventually, she wriggled through to the front of the crowd and stopped dead in her tracks. The outlines of a woodling and a tall, lanky human were silhouetted in the doorway, while Inquisitor Grimbeard stood at the entrance to the cellars, his normally ashen face currently maroon with rage as he blustered. Darius, upon spotting Meredith in the crowd, pointed to the grizzled dwarf,

“Merri! He’s planning to kill about half the city!” the teenaged human yelled. At the same time Grimbeard shouted out to the Moradhir Guard that were standing in the entrance hall, looking confused,

“Arrest them!” he yelled, spittle flying from his mouth. Meredith frowned. What in all the hells was going on? And why was Grimbeard yelling for her friends to be arrested? They weren’t even worshippers of Moradin, or dwarves for that matter. Before she could push her way past the guards, another voice, this one deeper and more commanding, rumbled through the chaos.

“What in all the bloomin’ blazes is going on up here?” Starhammer’s voice, somehow, cut through the muddle of everything else being shouted, causing all in the vicinity to immediately shut their mouths. Well, almost everyone. Grimbeard continued his tirade,

“Heretics!” The whole bloody lot o’ ye!” the scraggly-bearded dwarf was yelling, earning him a mixture of tuts and irritated sighs. Several of the older clerics around him rolled their eyes, as did the Captain of the Moradhir Guard. Starhammer pushed past the more heavily armoured dwarves and glared at the Inquisitor,

“Now hold on just one minute, Grimbeard. What in all the bloody hells are you goin’ on about?” he asked. Grimbeard puffed out his chest, and pointed at Elowyn and Darius, spittle flying from his lips as he spoke,

“These slimy, beardless infidels are accusin’ me and my family of plotting against the good folk of the Toreguarde Council!” he yelled. Darius went red in the face. He knew what he had seen in the sewers and this old… Darius wasn’t sure if he could even call the dwarf a man with the way he was acting. Before he could shout a rebuttal, Elowyn held a hand in front of him and glared at the skinny, grey-haired dwarf in front of her,

“We captured one of your family in the sewers beneath the street out there. After a bit of questioning, he revealed his and your part in a scheme to poison the Toreguarde Council at their next meeting by using beer spiked with Black Oozes.” she stated firmly, using her best ‘watchman’ voice. Having seen what had happened to the poor sod that had been experimented on already, Elowyn felt sick to her stomach at the thought of General Strucker or, Gods forbid, the Grand Magus drinking the stuff. Grimbeard snorted derisively, then smirked a little,

“Oh you did, did you?” he asked lightly, gesturing for a younger female dwarf with the same lumpen features as his own to come forward with a box. He took the box from the woman then opened it and held it out to Elowyn, “Then how do you explain this?” he asked, his tone acidic, yet also triumphant. Meredith shoved her way past several other dwarves to get a good look at what was in the box. Several other clerics reeled back in revulsion, allowing her to squirm past them. Her stomach turned at the sight that greeted her. Within the box was the messily severed head of a dwarf with similar features to the Inquisitor’s. The grey eyes were open and glassy, staring up at nothing, the mouth hung open in a pained scream. A murmur rushed through the crowd. Meredith looked up at Elowyn, who met her gaze for the briefest of moments before the woodling turned her furious attention back to Grimbeard, who was now smirking more broadly,

“What’s the matter, hen? Cat got your tongue?” he asked, sounding gleeful at the idea of catching the shorter woman and teenaged human in front of him in a lie. He seemed to have forgotten that Starhammer was still standing in the doorway down to the basement level. The older dwarf heaved a sigh,

“Put that away. Have ye no sense o’ decorum?” he rumbled, “Besides which, I rather think we ought to hear what Sergeant O’Toreguarde has to say. It’s rare for the lassie to be wrong, but I’m sure we can sort out exactly what’s -” Grimbeard rounded on the high priest, a nasty scowl marring his face, making it seem even more twisted than before,

“And you should know your place Starhammer!” he snarled, “I’m the Inquisitor o’ this church, and I say that the lassie is wrong!” Meredith scowled as she pushed past the Inquisitor to stand beside her friends. She knew Elowyn better than anyone else in this room, and Elowyn never lied. She glared at the Inquisitor, a swell of righteous fury building in her chest, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Starhammer strode up to the shorter dwarf, a dreadful surge of power building up around him. He stopped short of having their noses touch,

“You might well outrank me, Inquisitor,” he growled dangerously, “but you’ve still a lot to learn about how to read folk.” Starhammer gestured in the direction of the trio of adventurers, “I place my faith in Moradin, and He has placed His faith in these three young’uns. Ergo, I will believe their testimony over yours.” Meredith hardly dared to breath. The fury of a fully trained Cleric of Moradin was a terrible thing to behold, and she wondered if it was a good idea to remain in the vicinity. She glanced at Darius, who had already paled significantly having felt the pull of magic towards the old dwarf. Elowyn, on the other hand, seemed determined to stay put. Meredith internally rolled her eyes at herself. Of course she was. Elowyn was a watchperson first and then a paladin besides. If the woodling believed Grimbeard to be involved in an insidious plot to murder tens, if not hundreds of people, then she was not going to let a silly thing like a massive explosion of divine power get in her way. Well, if Elowyn was staying, then so was she.

Meredith returned her attention to Grimbeard and Starhammer, who had now cleared more space around them. Most of the youngest acolytes had already fled the area, and even the older clerics seemed to have enough sense to start scurrying back to the barroom. Gossip was all well and good, but it would be conducted more safely at a greater distance. Grimbeard flushed under his greasy beard,

“Recant your words, or I'll have you excommunicated.” he snarled, “You are the one forgetting your place High Priest. I have been blessed by Moradin to seek out those who would undermine His work, and I say the lassie and her friend are seeking to do just that. The Watch are never to be trusted in ecumenical matters, and non-dwarves should stay out of our business.” Starhammer’s gaze hardened as he looked into the Inquisitor’s eyes. He then turned to Elowyn,

“What say you Sergeant, or should I say, Lady O’Toreguarde?” he asked lightly, “What is your professional opinion on this?” Meredith couldn’t help a small smile gracing her lips at the slight emphasis on the word’ professional’.

Elowyn, who was still glaring daggers at Grimbeard nodded and gingerly turned on her Detect Evil ability. A lance of pain coursed through her temple as she gazed at the Inquisitor in front of her. The dwarf, and the younger woman behind him, were both blazing a deep crimson. She quickly turned the ability off again and took a step forward,

“Inquisitor Grimbeard, I am hereby arresting you and your family members for the charges of conspiracy against the Toreguarde Council -” she was quickly interrupted as Grimbeard let out a yell of frustration and hurled the box in his hands towards Starhammer, who neatly stepped out of the way. The head within tumbled free and turned into a stinking, sticky grey jelly, landing with a wet splat on the flagstones of the floor. Meredith went to rush forward to assist Elowyn, but before either woodling or dwarf could reach him, both Grimbeard and his niece had already turned to grey-ish coloured slime and slithered between the cracks in the floor.

“Dinna just stand there! After them!” Starhammer rumbled angrily to the guards, who had been watching the whole scene with expressions of concerned confusion the whole time. Immediately the one in the most richly decorated armour nodded, tapped his comrades on their pauldrons and all six of the Morahir paladins rushed down the basement stairs in an attempt to follow the Inquisitor. Elowyn growled in frustration, staring at the floor that the two Grimbeards had fallen through. Meredith, for her part walked over to Starhammer, who was flushed under his beard with anger,

“Forgive me, Father, but the Moradhir’ll be lucky to find them.” she said, “Why don’t you let Elo and I handle this? It’s not like we’ve got much else to do right now, and I very much doubt Elowyn wants to let Grimbeard and his family get away with this.” she added, glancing over to Elowyn. Darius stepped forward, standing beside the young dwarf,

“Me too.” he said quietly, “I mean, I saw what it was that they were talking to down in the sewers and…” the teen trailed off with a slightly scared gulp, “This is probably way bigger than anything the Guard or Watch can handle.” Starhammer glanced over to Darius, his angry expression lifting into one of mild concern. Meredith cocked her head as she too turned to her younger friend,

“What was it ye saw, exactly?” she asked, “D’you need any of those dispelling potions or..?”

“It wasn’t the extra-planar stuff.” Elowyn sighed, “Mostly because I saw it too.” Meredith snapped her head around to look at Elowyn, fear and concern gripping her heart. The tone in the woodling’s voice suggested something far worse than what Meredith herself had initially thought, and that scared her. Starhammer sighed and gestured towards the barroom,

“Let’s get a drink and you can tell me what exactly it was you saw.” he said, his voice heavy. Meredith glanced back at where the fake head had fallen. The slime had eaten through the floor and left a still steaming hole. She swallowed thickly and nodded, quickly shuffling through the now dissipating crowd after her High Priest and friends. Whatever it was that was going on, something in her gut was telling her that it was something far bigger than just a plot against the Toreguarde Council. The way Grimbeard had been shrieking about Moradin had left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and his rant against non-dwarves… The cleric mentally shook herself. There would be time enough to work out what this all meant. For now, she needed to stay focused on the immediate task at hand, which was the apprehension of Grimbeard and his family and any other associates they might have had help from.

#aquadestinyswriting #writeblrcafe #titan fighting fantasy #Meredith Gruksdottir #Elowyn O'Toreguarde #severed head description tw #fantasy racism tw #fantasy xenophobia tw #fantasy religion tw #Fangthane's Folly and the Anvil's Fall

[aquadestinyswriting]

How Far We've Come

Summary: A quick look back at how all the main adventurers started their journeys in Destiny's New Servants to how they ended it.

Words: 936

Tags: @druidx @homesteadchronicles @flashfictionfridayofficial @asher-orion-writes,@warriorbookworm, @odysseywritings, @blind-the-winds, @thesorcerersapprentice,@writeblrcafe, @ashiru, @writeblrcafe

Warnings: None

Notes: These vignettes are quite short and I didn't include Aurianna or 'Arry as they're technically side characters. Thannan was also left out because he joined the group so late, he never got a chance to get much development (also... word count)

Celestia still resounded with the sounds of battle as the last of the demons and assorted gods of domains antithetical to the plane were pushed back to their homes. 

Standing on the edge of a small crater near the shore of the celestial sea were the heroes who had made such a victory possible. Each looked to the others, marvelling at what they had all managed to accomplish in the relatively short time they'd been working with one another. Each of them thought back over the journey they had been on, reflecting on the people they used to be and the heroes that they had become since.

Elowyn

Elowyn cast around frantically for a way to get above the crowd for a better view of what was going on. There were times that being a woodling was a detriment, and this was one of those times. She taps Alphonse’s leg,

“Let me get up there. I need to see what’s going on and try to get these people to calm down.” she tells him. Alphonse shrugs and allows the shorter woman to clamber onto her shoulders. As she starts to order people to evacuate in a more orderly manner, she spots, out of the corner of her eye, two hulking figures storming up the canal, throwing boats and barges to either side as they go.

~*~

Elowyn shook her head at Ionah’s words to her,

“Not naiive, just ever optimistic in some twisted sense. I can’t help but remember how things might have gone. I don’t know you well - I didn’t get a chance - but I know that, at some point, there was Goodness in you. Nobody is so far gone that they can’t come back, not even you.” Ionah laughed at her,

“I was damned a lang time ago. I just simply chose to embrace it.”

Elowyn could barely believe what she was hearing. She truly believed that no one was beyond saving at this point, but how could she get through to someone so broken?

Meredith

Meredith glowered at the ash that was the ghoul who had interrupted her quiet drink. She glances over to the watch officers who had caught the creature, who were having a heated discussion about the woodling going into the sewers alone. She motions to the pile of ash,

"Seein' as that one was headin' doon there, I might as well come with." She said, "There's never just the one, and ye'll want a cleric to help deal with them." She offered. 

~*~

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief as Elowyn coughed raspily and held out her hand,

“I’m so glad that’s so much nicer than the last time I died.” the currently polymorphed woodling wheezes. Meredith chuckles as she pulls her friend to her feet,

“Ye didn’t get any time, hen.” she quips, rounding on the the remaining demons with an angry snarl.

Felix

Felix wrapped his arms around his knees and hugged them tightly. If only he had been strong enough to actually cast anything useful, then maybe Elowyn wouldn't be…. The gnomish man choked back his sobs. Self pity wasn't going to get them anywhere, but what could he possibly do that would be helpful?

~*~

Felix stared at the ginormous pyroclastic dragon and the drakes flying in front of it. The gnomish sorcerer smiled slowly as he cast his spell and began to speak,

“No! You’re the one who should tremble, because I am YOUR DOOM!”

Harbinger reeled back, his scales cracking under the unexpected force projected from so small a creature. Felix's grin widened further as all three draconic creatures fell out of the sky.

Quentin

Quentin yelps in alarm as a sword point is almost driven through his midsection by the woodling woman he had been quietly trying to make his way past,

“Hey, hold on, I’m a friend!” he exclaims, only to receive an annoyed glare from the woman and several of her companions. He bows his head, keeping his arms raised,

“Apologies, an introduction is in order. Quentin Goldenrose, tracker and scout at your service.”

~*~

Quentin groans as his friends are regaled about stories of his youth by his sister,

“Seriously, why do you insist on doing this?” he asks plaintively. Elowyn shrugs as she takes another bite of food,

“It’s an older sibling thing.” she replies, “Just relax and enjoy this. We probably won’t get another chance to do it again for quite a while.” she points out. Quentin quirks an eyebrow at the woodling woman, but can’t find any fault with her assessment.

Snotgrut

Snotgrut frowns in confusion as Elowyn speaks to the goblins the group had captured the previous night. Second chances? What on earth would these idiots do with a second chance? He stays quiet, observing the situation. He doesn't quite understand what the woodling wants to happen, but it seems to be working… kind of. Maybe there's something to this 'mercy' thing.

~*~

Snotgrut hefted out the sword he'd acquired when he'd last visited Arborea. Now that the plainly evil half of him had been destroyed, it didn't seem right to hold onto it any more. The goblin glanced up at the blade and froze. It was glowing.

"Was it doing that before?" Felix asked innocently. Snotgrut whimpered,

"No." He replied, voice small, "It's never done that before." His ears drooped as he continued staring at the blade, the slow realisation of what the Emerald Dragon had 'gifted' him with finally sinking in.

The adventurers smiled at one another, they’d all come a long way. Now it was time to hang up their weapons and get some well deserved rest.

#aquadestinyswriting #titan fighting fantasy #flash fiction friday masterlist #writeblrcafe #destiny's new servants #elowyn o'toreguarde #meredith gruksdottir #felix parker tinker #quentin goldenrose #snotgrut