#planar scion

[enddaysengine]

Aasimar (Paths Beyond)

“Are they curious about their immortal heritage or do they fear it?”

When I wrote that line about the suli, my mind immediately went to the aasimar. I don’t think people would question tieflings fearing their heritage, but when we see aasimar, we default to our OCC knowledge of celestials and their alignment. What would it be like if you grew up on legends of avenging angels and relentless archons? That’s why that question resonated with me.

How much weight and expectation must there be on an aasimar’s shoulders, knowing they're descended from celestial beings? What was their childhood like? Did their celestial parent pull an angel unaware and adopt a mortal guise to be with the child? Did they watch out for them from afar? Visit them in their dreams? Did they grow up surrounded by entities of pure goodness in the afterlife? Or did the poor kid grow up like Percy Jackson, hearing tales of a wonderful parent that left them behind?

And then there’s the question of how much you should fear celestials. Yes, they are good, but good does not mean nice or perfect. Many celestials are outright terrifying if you aren’t a hero and that’s before considering how close they are to divinity or how connected they may or may not be to any given apocalypse. That’s a lot for anyone to take in, especially from a young age. While not every single one of an aasimar’s motivations should be tied to their lineage, it is a good place to start and storytellers should think about how aasimar feel about it.

While I’m ostensively going in reverse alphabetical order, it’s nice to jump out of order one last time and return to the beginning ten years later. When we plot hook our way through the Bestiaries, we tend to give Aasimar the short end of the stick, not because we hate them, but because they are the first thing we write. I encourage you to go deeper into these celestial-touched mortals, as I think you will find them to be diverse and fascinating.

Rasa Lightbringer was literally Heaven-born, having been raised in Heaven’s Shore by three generations of aasimar relatives as well as her celestial great-great-great-great grandfather. Rasa hardly speaks to them these days though, as she finds Heaven’s definition of “good” excusatory and patronizing. She still lives along the Heathen Shore, but now she represents the chaotic interests of the Cayden Cailean and the Azatas. She is welcome within the city, but Rasa knows how to get under the other locals’ skins. Many Archons would rather deal with almost anyone else.

Stereotypes of the aasimar abound, but celestial heritage in no way guarantees good behaviour. Ayes Emeraldeye was once a champion of Ketephys in the elves’ war against Treerazer. Blessed by his celestial heritage with a long life even for an elf, Ayes eventually fell from grace upon realizing that everything eventually withers. Now he stalks the River of Souls on the behalf of Charon, although the still smites any minions of Treerazer he encounters.

Raised by the D'ziriak in Thronestep’s Shadow, Aziba is surprisingly well-adjusted to humanoid cultures. The aasimar knows nothing of her family, only that she was found by skull faeries as a babe, who brought her to her insectoid foster family. Now, she is a priestess of the Prismatic Ray: from Shelyn she sees beauty even in the darkness, Sarenrae lets her see the good in all people, and she emulates Desna as she guides people through her home plane. She opposes the machinations of the velstracs who haunt Razmirans umbral reflection and seeks aid in thwarting their latest plots.

#Planar Scion #Humanoid #Pathfinder #Paths Beyond #Planescape #Pf2e #Pathfinder 2e #paizo publishing #Plothooks #Worldbuilding #RPG inspiration

[silversiren1101]

💎💎💎 😺 (SUPER late but I am curious if possible)

[For my bestie??? For Xer?? Always girl you know that]

Xer’Kan Tanhua

Minovae drops her cup, letting it shatter on the floor. Her face is stricken with shock.

“Xer… Xer is alive?”

At your insistence, a mix of joy and then anger contorts her eyes, tears building in one of them. “You better not be lying to me! If ever there was anyone that deserved a happy ending among us, it’s her! Never have I seen anyone go through so much that they were so ready to die like her. She seemed almost relieved when she learned her death could fix this Worldwound mess! Stupid, selfish, reckless! …Kind and generous and beautiful Xer…”

The anger rolls off her and she wipes the tears from her scaled cheek.

“We were… are… we’re so alike in that regard, you know? Staying stoic and strong but it’s all act when you’re dying inside and just want it to end. I see her as… as like a funhouse mirror, as silly as that sounds. We’re so alike that the reflection is recognizable: our childhoods and what we’ve gone through just being what we are… how fiercely we protect what’s right and fix any wrongs… the stubbornness and refusal to rest… and our taste in men, of course!” She chuckles a little, sniffling.

“We’re even both kind of paradoxes, aren’t we? Her being the most morose and miserable azata I’ve ever seen to me being the peppiest and humane aeon she has ever seen. A oni-spawn wreathed in butterflies and the ganzi clad in blackened plate…”

She seems wistful as she trails off. “If she’s alive then I hope she finds peace and love where she never has to wield a blade again. She deserves it.”

And one last aside, she mutters under her breath. “I miss her cooking.”

#oc: minovae arangeir #oc: xerkan tan’hua #look mino would be ride or die for Xer they are battle sisters to the bitter end #mino would be so absolutely devastated by xer’s decision to sacrifice herself and she’d rather die in her place #just two very broken planar scions looking for their place in this world and safety and love #the combination despair and misery between them though might cause a singularity #it just opens a new worldwound straight to where the sakhils are #Regill like fuck I have two sacrificial and martyr driven wives how is this my type #sorry man you know you wouldn’t fall for anyone that’s half assed #and between Xer and Mino you have a LOT of ass to grab (thiccccc) #ask meme #ask game #wrath of the righteous

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 15: Duskwalker

(art by JoshBurns on DeviantArt)

And so we continue this special with the very last of the planar scion ancestries that Pathfinder 1st edition has to offer: the Duskwalker, the neutral-aligned planetouched.

Much like Aphorites, duskwalkers do not come into being in the same way as most. No mingling of bloodlines occurs in their case. Instead, they are born the way they are by the divine mandate of the forces they represent, but we’ll get into that.

According to legend, two powerful psychopomps, a yamaraj and an olethros mother, entered into a discussion about the interplay between fate and fortune, and how many souls lose their chance at destiny when their lives are cut short, and whether that is fair.

This discussion led to an agreement, approved by Pharasma, in which some souls whose fates were severed too soon and whose lives led to them being distinguished among the psychopomps and other guardians of the cycle to get a second chance.

These souls are sent back to the material plane along the secret planar paths known as the dead roads, taking the form of young children with a basket of supplies in hand, and are often found by locals wandering the graveyards where they exit the Dead Roads. These are duskwalkers.

Now, as you might imagine, off-putting children found roaming graveyards are likely to be viewed with apprehension by most simple folk, so while the psychopomps do their best to send them places where they will be accepted, some are not, and are forced to mature physically and mentally very rapidly in order to survive.

Having not experienced infancy, duskwalkers are born into this world knowing their duty to help protect the cycle of life and death as mortal beings, however, they can still shape their own fate, and a few reject it, even going as far as to ally with the sahkils, the terrible enemies of the psychopomps.

While many duskwalkers resemble humans, it is possible for them to be born resembling any sapient ancestry, though they typically sport gray skin, and sometimes sport odd features that resemble one of the various forms of psychopomps, such as feathers, animal-like features on the face, hands, and feet, and so on.

Like many other planar scions, duskwalkers don’t have much in the way of a society of their own. Most go their entire second lives never meeting another of their kind, and what few communities do exist are almost universally founded as part of or after some great unified goal to protect the cycle and/or destroy some great undead threat. Due to the sporatic nature of duskwalker creation, such communities may cease to even be duskwalker communites after a generation, populated by their mortal descendants and those of their mortal allies. Perhaps the only other peoples they feel common ground with are planar scions and other hybrid folk, though naturally they share a mutual distrust with most dhampir.

Duskwalkers are agile and cunning, but their connections to death makes their bodies somewhat fragile.

Their nature as native outsiders also gives them incredible night vision, the better for seeing the undead that hide from the light.

Many are also created with innate understanding of living bodies and also they mysteries of faith and the undead, making them more skilled in areas of medicine, religion, and undead-hunting.

Perhaps their most iconic ability, however, is their ability to channel their undead-slaying power into any weapon they touch, making even mundane blades at least partially effective against the spectral dead, though they can focus further once a day to improve this to strike true against such lost souls for a short while.

Naturally, being a duskwalker gives them natural resistance to negative energy and harmful necromancy. What’s more, they are totally immune to magic and supernatural power that would cause them to rise as the undead. (though rumor has it that duskwalkers that forsake their duty and ally with the sahkils lose that protection, making for truly terrible undead indeed)

Of course, not all duskwalkers are built the same, so there are some alternate traits for them as well. For example, some were utterly shunned by the locals and forced to steal and scavenge to survive, affecting what they were skilled in. Others were taken in by big families that showered them with love, making them more social with both people and animals. Meanwhile, some were favored by the olethros associated with the origins of their kind, and trade their resistances for a knack for finding the perfect chink in a foe’s armor at the right time. Those that were favored by the yamaraj side trade the same protections for a measure of their wisdom, navigating social situations with their sagacity rather than charm.

With their agility and wisdom, duskwalkers make excellent ranged combatants, (particularly gunslingers, rangers, and hunters), as well as rogues, slayers, ninjas, and of course various wisdom casters like clerics and druids. However, their knack for fighting the undead with mundane weapons also means that combat classes both mundane and magical are also a good choice. Naturally, any build or archetype that focuses on hunting the undead is a good choice as well, though those built around using the undead are anathema to all but the most corrupted of their kind. Their con penalty does mean that fighting in a straight-up fight is a bit risky for them, but not impossible to get around.

That will do for today, but I hope you enjoyed this final look at a planar scion option in first edition!

#pathfinder #race #duskwalker #planar adventures

[thecreaturecodex]

Nascent Demon Lord, Apharoe

Image © @tredlocity​

[Commissioned by @crazytrain48​, and the first unique fiend from Arduin. Probably not the last. In Arduin, Apharoe is one of the few neutral demon lords, as that setting’s demons are more along the lines of Goetic demons (incredibly powerful and dangerous, usually evil but not always, called by mortal summoners to assist them with particular tasks). So I needed a hook to make her suitably evil for the more typical D&D/PFRPG model. In Arduin, she’s said to be conjured for matters of “conceiving special children”, and it mentions that she takes her own children with mortals back to the Abyss. Which inspired the flavor text I went with, which makes her a patron of eugenics and planar scions, and using one to make the other. ]

Nascent Demon Lord, Apharoe CR 24 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This curvy and statuesque woman has skin the color of the night sky, freckled with stars. Her eyes seem to shift in color, and she has three navels, but is otherwise human in appearance.

Apharoe The Star Witch, the Night Lover Concerns cold, eugenics and space Domains Chaos, Charm, Evil, Void Subdomains Cold*, Demon, Lust, Stars Worshipers astrologers, enchanters, planar scions Minions cambions, star demons, void dragons Unholy Symbol a white dove or a black swan on a starburst Obedience Achieve sexual release under the night sky. This may be done alone or with a partner. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saving throws against cold effects Boons 1: unnatural lust 2/day; 2: wall of ice 2/day; 3: cold ice strike 2/day *clerics of Apharoe can use the Cold subdomain to modify the Void domain

Apharoe the Star Witch is something of an enigma among demonologists. Unlike many nascent demon lords, she isn’t fighting to gain control of a layer of the Abyss, and indeed enjoys good relations with multiple demon lords. She is remarkably easy to summon with gate spells, and is friendly with those who call her, providing services related to cold magic, love and lust, and fertility. Her costs for service are very low by the standards of demons, merely consisting of sexual favors provided by a man of her choosing, if the caster themselves does not meet her standards. The truth of the matter is, Apharoe is playing a long game. She views mortals as weak and in need of “improvement”, and is working on a colossal eugenics program to create enough half fiends, cambions and tieflings to conquer multiple planets. The most trusted of her generals are her own children and other descendants. The worlds they rule will eventually be the backbone of a new layer of the Abyss created by her and for her ascendance. But for now, these goals are held close to Apharoe’s ample chest, and only her most devoted cultists know her ultimate plan.

The Night Lover would much rather talk than fight. Her seductive words are backed up by mind influencing magic, and those that get too close succumb to her gaze. In those who are attracted to women, the gaze overcomes their minds with intense lust; those that are not are instead overwhelmed with loathing (which function mechanically identically). Those that resist her charms are typically frozen to death, or torn to pieces after she assumes animal form. Any weapon that strikes Apharoe is inflicted with a chill that renders it brittle, and she can turn mortal flesh into solid ice with a touch. Apharoe flees at the first sign that a fight will not be easy; she has better things to do than endanger her life. She usually sends powerful minions, such as star demons, to punish those that would dare hinder her.

Apharoe is often found in the Material Plane. When going amongst mortals, she typically appears as a beautiful woman, a black swan, a white dove, or a fierce leopard. She is almost never found in the guise of a man or other genders, and women are typically in higher ranking positions among her cults. Her teachings are an odd mix of hedonism and “traditional family values”, as she wishes to encourage some “appropriate” people to breed, and others to stop breeding, by force if necessary. What the criteria for suitable breeding stock are is arbitrary, and may vary based on the whims of Apharoe or her high priestesses. Planar blood is almost always seen as of high value, and evil tieflings, aasimars and other such people are often drawn into her service. Some of the unworthy are deemed competent enough to work for the cult and are forced into positions of servitude, frequently after sterilization. Those that are judged especially unworthy, or who resist their enslavement, are typically killed through freezing, whether through exposure or via cold magic.

Apharoe stands about six and a half feet tall in her natural form.

Apharoe                                CR 24 XP 1,230,000 CE Medium outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses darkvision 120 ft., Perception +32, see in darkness, true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 27) Defense AC 42, touch 26, flat-footed 30 (+11 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +8 natural, +8 armor) hp 525 (30d10+360); regeneration 15 (good or epic) Fort +26, Ref +32, Will +26 DR 15/good and epic; Immune charm, cold, compulsion, death effects, electricity, poison; Resist acid 30, fire 30; SR 35 Defensive Abilities brumal chill, integrated Offense Speed 70 ft. Melee 2 slams +37 (1d8+8 plus 3d8 cold damage) Special Attacks energy drain (2d4 negative levels, DC 34), frigid touch, gaze, master enchanter Spell-like Abilities CL 24th, concentration +33 (+37 casting defensively) Constant—cloak of chaos (self only, DC 27), true seeing At will—charm monster (DC 25), cone of cold (DC 24), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), suggestion (DC 23), icy prison (DC 24), unnatural lust (DC 23), wall of ice 3/day—dominate person (DC 26), freedom of movement, glibness, quickened greater dispel magic, greater scrying (DC 26), quickened mass suggestion (DC 27), empowered polar ray 1/day—interplanetary teleport, meteor swarm (DC 28), overwhelming presence (DC 30), polar midnight (DC 28) Spells CL 20th, concentration +29 (+33 casting defensively) 9th (7/day)—dominate monster (DC 30), gate (DC 28), time stop 8th (7/day)—demand (DC 29), irresistible dance (DC 29), maze 7th (7/day)—finger of death (DC 26), insanity (DC 28), waves of exhaustion  6th (7/day)—cold ice strike (DC 25), greater heroism, veil (DC 25) 5th (8/day)—baleful polymorph (DC 24), feeblemind (DC 26), icy prison (DC 24), mind fog (DC 26) 4th (8/day)—confusion (DC 25), enervation, fire shield, greater invisibility 3rd (8/day)—arcane sight, displacement, protection from energy, reckless infatuation (DC 24) 2nd (8/day)—eagle’s splendor, glitterdust (DC 21), mirror image, oppressive boredom (DC 23), touch of idiocy 1st (8/day)—identify, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 20), shield, unprepared combatant (DC 22) 0th—arcane mark, daze (DC 21), detect magic, light, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, ray of frost, resistance Statistics Str 26, Dex 32, Con 34, Int 23, Wis 21, Cha 29 Base Atk +30; CMB +38 (+42 sunder); CMD 64 (66 vs. sunder) Feats Acrobatic, Acrobatic Steps, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Empower SLA (polar ray), Eschew Materials (B), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment) (B), Greater Sunder, Heighten Spell, Improved Sunder, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (greater dispel magic, mass suggestion), Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment) (B) Skills Acrobatics +40 (+56 jumping), Bluff +36, Diplomacy +36, Disguise +36, Fly +37, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (geography, planes) +33, Knowledge (arcana, nature, religion) +30, Perception +32, Sense Motive +32, Spellcraft +30, Stealth +36, Use Magic Device +31 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan; telepathy 300 ft. SQ change shape (humanoid or animal, polymorph), nascent demon lord traits, unnatural caster Ecology Environment any land or underground (the Abyss) Organization unique Treasure double standard (Mantle of the Star Witch [otherworldly kimono/bracers of armor +8 that takes up the chest slot], other treasure) Special Abilities Brumal Chill (Su) Creatures or weapons striking Apharoe must succeed a DC 34 Fortitude save or take 3d8 points of cold damage. An object that takes this damage has its hardness halved for 1 minute. The save DC is Charisma based. Energy Drain (Su) Apharoe can deal 2d4 negative levels with a kiss or other intimate touch if she so chooses. An unwilling creature must be grappled before Apharoe can kiss them. Frigid Touch (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, Apharoe can touch a single creature. If it fails a DC 34 Fortitude save, it is turned to ice. Treat this as a petrification effect, except that the“stone” has hardness 0 and vulnerability to fire. A creature that saves successfully still takes 3d8+30 points of cold damage. The save DC is Charisma based. Gaze (Su) Range 30 ft.; save DC 34; effect stunned 1d4+1 rounds. A creature that successfully saves against this gaze is staggered for 1 round, and then is immune to Apharoe’s gaze for the next 24 hours. Integrated (Ex) Apharoe always takes minimum damage from disintegrate spells, or other similar spells and effects. If reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by one of these effects, she is not reduced to dust, and her regeneration continues to function. Master Enchanter (Ex) Apharoe gains Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in enchantment as bonus spells. She applies the effects of these feats to her spell-like abilities of the enchantment school. Nascent Demon Lord Traits (Ex/Su) Apharoe is a powerful unique fiend with the following traits:

Immune to charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, poison

Resist acid, cold and fire 30

Telepathy 300 ft.

Apharoe’s natural weapons, as  well as any weapons she wields, are treated as chaotic, epic and evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Apharoe can grant spells and boons to worshipers as described in her cult entry above

Spells Apharoe gains spellcasting as a 20th level sorcerer. She does not gain any bloodline abilities. Unnatural Caster (Ex) Apharoe can use her spells when assuming animal form, as if she had the Natural Spell feat.

#apharoe #demon lord #demon #tredlocity #arduin #D&D #pathfinder 1e #tiefling #eugenics #probably my horniest monster in a while #the alicorno was too wholesome #i needed to balance it out

[siensapsap]

High rollers Altheya spoilers below!

Alright, people are probably already thinking this but I might as well make a post about it. What if the lamplighters guild and the church are working together on the demonic lanterns?

Because we know there's at least some layer of lamplighters guild involved, how else would they end up using the disc? But what if there's an extremist part of the church of the scions as well? Because there is absolutely zero reason for the lamplighters to give a single fuck about a random tavern, but the church marked it as 'heresy'.

There are some instances of firefighters starting fires so they can be the heroes and put them out. What if it's like that? The church want these demonic presences to be scattered around the city so when eventually something bad happens, they can be the hero and fix it.

The church is very strongly against any and all planar beings, they are convinced they're evil and have a vested interest in convincing most of the population of that as well. But as we've seen, the truth is a lot more complicated than that.

Nim seems to be at least mostly good, and the dude in the tower (im terrible at names, forgive me) seems to be at the very least neutral as well. What if more people in the city were starting to doubt the church's teachings on that point, and at least some people in the church responded to that by sowing more fear via these lanterns? So people who are saying planar influences aren't all bad have a harder time proving that.

What if that started with a tavern who's name makes a lighthearted reference to a planar being?

Anyways, that's a bit of a ramble, hope it's still somewhat intelligible.

#high rollers altheya #high rollers #high rollers theory #high rollers spoilers #altheya

[inscrutable-shadow]

Whumptober 2023 Days 4, 18 - wasn't what you wanted (but i had something to give)

@whumptober-archive

No. 4: “I see the danger, It’s written there in your eyes.”

Cattle Prod | Shock | “You in there?”

No. 18: “I tend to deflect when I’m feeling threatened.”

Blindfold | Tortured For Information | “Hit them harder.”

contains: gore, captivity, vampire whumpees, immolation

too long? read on ao3!

Avrae thought she really should have expected something like this. Waking with the red-hot sensation of silver blistering against bare wrists and frigid air tickling her ribs, perhaps not exactly, but some form of capture or another. One could only be public enemy number one of most of vampire-kind for so long before someone succeeded in kicking the shit out of you. What she genuinely didn’t expect to see was the bruised and battered face of one Thanatos Iuventus, being hauled around by his hair and generally looking worse for wear. He was also shirtless, and covered in what was presumably his own blood, red as it was. Their captors were Daxerine, and everyone knew Daxerines had black blood.

“Well, well, miss Angel of Death. Looks like we’ve caught two birds with one stone. I must admit, when your Harbinger was spotted in the area, I was quite worried, but once we’d caught him, my fears were quickly dispelled.” Avrae recognised this man from the briefing documents: Edric Godfrey, the current Lord Viarossa and the target. He and six of his scions were slated for elimination, leaving the two remaining members of the Viarossa bloodline to be folded into the new House Penumbrae, which was eagerly waiting to seize assets as soon as Avrae reported mission success. Lord Godfrey shook Thanatos a bit, which only served to increase his dishevelled appearance. The limp strands of dark hair clinging to his face, caked with blood and sweat, made him look a bit like a damp raven. Did he always look so wretched? Honestly. Typical Iuventus.

Thanatos’s breathing scraped raggedly from his throat and his eyes (faintly glowing red, a telltale sign of a hungry vampire) darted wildly around the room. He got his mouth halfway around “Ten- ugh…” before his face hit the floor.

Godfrey, who’d dropped him, stepped over his body into the room. “He hasn’t been of particular use to us, I’m afraid. I can’t imagine what you use him for.” The answer to that was obvious, even from here. The runic sigil tattooed onto Thanatos’s chest could be easily read by anyone who understood the magic as a planar focus. It was what let her shadow-walk over long interstellar distances to carry out the hits. Thanatos would go the slow way, and as soon as she was in, he’d take his leave and head for the next destination. She rarely saw him, and to be honest, that was just fine with her. “Fortunately, he brought you right to us. I trust you’ll be of much more use.”

“What the fuck do you want, anyway?” Avrae asked, ignoring Thanatos’s quiet whimpers. 

Godfrey leaned over her, careful not to touch the silver chains. “I want your list. Everyone slated to be executed. Everyone your new council of feral mongrels has deemed unnecessary.” His voice dipped to a malevolent growl as he spoke, and he cleared his throat and swallowed the emotion. Quite a bit of vitriol there, ‘feral’ was an insult vampires reserved for the most absolutely despised.

“Look in a mirror. You’re priority one, asshole.”

Her neck snapped to the side as he backhanded her across the face. This was enough to rouse Thanatos from his stupor of self-pity and put the fear back into his eyes. He pressed himself into the wall, hoping Godfrey would forget about him. Avrae couldn’t tell if he was putting on an act to appear non threatening or if Lord Viarossa had just put the fear of God into him. No time to ponder it, though. “Don’t get smart with me. If you don’t talk willingly, I’d love to convince you. Your friend here can tell you just how much I enjoy it. Get him up,” he ordered, and two other men stepped in to chain Thanatos to the opposite wall in a reflection of her own restraints.

Thanatos didn’t even flinch as the silver closed around his wrists. He was clearly used to it, and the scars on his arms confirmed that. Silver was the only thing that could scar a vampire, and its use was considered taboo for intraspecies disagreements. This ‘Culling War’, as it was being called by people on the wrong side of it, had seen all of those conventions thrown out of the nearest airlock. It was clearly meant to send the message that nothing was off the table, probably not even sunlight. She didn’t see the pale scarring of previously sun-scorched flesh anywhere on Thanatos’s exposed upper body, though, so that was a mercy. Meant they hadn’t been pushed that far yet. For the best, really, even the strongest stomach could turn watching charred skin slough off of muscle. 

“You remember this, don’t you, Harbinger?” Godfrey crooned, tipping Thanatos’s chin up with his left hand and bringing the right up toward an already red mark on the man’s side. The pulsing crackle of an electric baton drew both Avrae’s and Thanatos’s wary attention. “Why don’t we show her what we’ve been doing for the past few days?”

Thanatos went rigid and averted his eyes from the implement, his breathing settling into an uneasy rhythm. He didn’t flinch away as Godfrey brought the arcing electricity teasingly close to his skin. Avrae swallowed. She wouldn’t do him the dishonour of looking away, but it had been several centuries since she’d watched someone be tortured in front of her. That much disuse could make even the most hardened killing machine go soft. Though she’d never been as hardened as others had hoped. She’d always taken too greedily to peace, ached too desperately for normalcy. She would sand off her own sharp edges if it didn’t happen quickly enough on its own. Maybe that’s what had made her brittle, caused her to shatter, a hopeless, broken thing. (She just wanted to be like them.)

The contract had reforged her, made her a weapon again. She’d almost expected it when they’d approached her and offered a new assignment. It had been odd, not being wielded. It had felt good doing what she was made to do. Somehow, it didn’t feel good to watch Thanatos (delicate, rail-thin, craven Thanatos, whose greatest pre-vampiric hardship had been paternal pressure into an annoying career and who’d looked as if he were one cough away from an early grave every time she’d seen him) go through something she would have been expected to withstand as a child. It was just electricity, just pain. It was impossible for it to damage him permanently. Physically, at least. The sunken, haunted eyes told a different story.

The first scream was cautious, curated. Clearly intentional, gauging the atmosphere, probing Godfrey to see how far he wanted to go this time. Hoping that would be the end of it. The second had a bit of despair to its edge.

The third was real.

Long, drawn-out wails of utter agony rang through the small room. Red Lichtenberg figures blossomed across his side, like grasping fingers stretching toward the sigil on his chest. There was nothing Avrae could do to help Thanatos. They would just have to wait until Godfrey got bored. Asking him to stop would be a display of weakness, and she didn’t have the information that would theoretically save him. She didn’t even know who the target after Godfrey was supposed to be yet. Thanatos might, but if he did and wasn’t telling, he had more iron in him than she’d given him credit for.

Minutes pass and Godfrey shows no sign of slowing down. Thanatos gives no suggestion of wanting to beg for the pain to stop, either. His cries are entirely wordless and stop as soon as the prod is moved away from his skin. Either he’s already tried and knows it’s pointless, or it’s his own brand of defiance. Avrae’s tired of it either way.

“Is there a point to this or do you just like hearing him scream? My hearing’s very sensitive, so if it’s the latter, could you move this show somewhere else?” She made a point of ensuring her expression was as bored as possible, something she’d had quite a bit of experience with since becoming nocturnal.

Godfrey rounded on her, shaking the baton under her nose. “It could be you next. Ruin that pretty skin of yours. Unless you have something to tell me?”

“Nope.”

He growled in frustration and tipped her chin up with the end of the prod. “I don’t think you understand the severity of what I’m asking you.”

She smirked, shifting against the silver chains. “No, I think I get it. You think I’m the only method the Council has of getting this done? I’m the merciful route. You could kill me right here and it wouldn’t save you. You could know every name in the ledger and you couldn’t do jack shit about it. Either the High Council does this, or the Galactic Council does. They won’t be kind enough to leave two of your scions. They will gladly exterminate every single one of us. If my options are you kill me or they kill me, I’ll take silver over the stake or the sun.”

Lord Godfrey’s expression hardened into a scowl. “I’m going to leave you two to talk for a moment, and when I come back, I’ll immolate him.” He said the last few words slowly, leaning over her position sitting on the floor. Thanatos’s eyes flickered with some emotion, but quickly returned to glassy diffidence. “Let’s see where we stand after that.” Godfrey indicated to the other two men to leave the room, and the iron door scraped shut.

The room was silent for a few moments, then Thanatos made a sound that might have been a sob, but was stunted and malformed. He took a shuddering breath. “I… don’t want to die, Tenebrus.”

“Well, yeah. Expected as much.” She sighed. “I suppose you want me to get you out of this.” Thanatos said nothing. “You’re nothing but trouble, you know that?”

He blinked slowly. “I apologise.”

It wasn’t really any fun poking at him if he wasn’t going to fight back at all. “Do you have the info he wants?” Godfrey probably had cameras in here, but there wasn’t really any point in bluffing about this. They’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

He shuddered. “No. They give me the next location once they’ve confirmed you’ve reached the destination correctly. I’ve been here since before then, and I’ve got nothing through the datastream. I don’t know if signals can get through here.”

“Mm. I used your locator to get through, popped into an ambush. These assholes’re lucky I didn’t walk through them. If signals have trouble getting through, the Council might not even know I got here.”

“Would they send someone for you? If they knew?” Both of them knew Thanatos was a bit of a sacrificial lamb for this enterprise. If something untoward were to happen to him, he’d be replaced, simple as. Avrae was a bit more difficult to substitute. The Council might make an attempt at recovery rather than giving her up as lost.

“Dunno. Any chance of your uh… partner?” Most of the rumours about Thanatos, if you heard his name at all, centred around the idea that he was banging an extremely powerful magical being. Avrae didn’t quite believe it, but far be it from her to understand a fae’s sexual preferences.

He hesitated, then sighed. “No. None at all.” This sentence seemed to drain him more than even the torture had.

“They wouldn’t stop you burning to death?”

“Ae’s not available. Won’t even know what’s happened to me for a few years.” Oh. That was… awful, actually. Did this partner of his even know he was out here fighting a war?

“Okay. So we’re on our own then. I can break the chains, but the manacles won’t let me shadow-walk. I’d still be trapped.”

“You’re strong enough even with the silver? I suppose your physical enhancement must truly be S-class.” Sure. Whatever. If that made it easier to believe.

“Door’s silver-lined too. If I can get out of the silver while it’s open, I’ll be able to teleport and it’ll be easy to get you out then.” He had no reason to believe she wouldn’t just leave him there once she was free, but also, if he could have got himself out, he probably wouldn’t still be here.

Thanatos’s brow furrowed. “The only way to get you out would be if he- ah. I may have a solution.” She waited, but he failed to elaborate further.

“And?”

“Trust me. Play along. Let me show you what purpose a Iuventus serves.” His eyes had never looked defeated, except for the brief moment when he’d thought of his partner, but now she detected a glimmer of defiance or even mischief. What was he planning? She nodded, willing to let him take the lead.

He was quiet for several seconds and then raised his voice. “I want to confess! Please! You can’t silence me, Tenebrus. I won’t die for this cause!”

Godfrey immediately opened the door, much too eagerly. “Oh? Finally changed your tune? I almost thought I’d have to use this.” Behind him, his goons wheeled in what Avrae recognised as an ultraviolet spotlight. That thing could render a vampire to ash almost sooner than he could scream. She’d be astonished if Godfrey could watch that without vomiting.

“No, please, I don’t want to die!” Thanatos’s pleading was fervent, almost fanatical. “She can do what she likes to me. I… I can’t die. I’ll give you the information.”

‘She can do what she likes to me,’ eh? Avrae thought she might be picking up what he was putting down. “If you don’t shut the fuck up, you pathetic coward, I’ll make you fucking wish I’d immolate you. You think silver hurts? I’ll flay you and sun bleach your organs. Keep you nice and well fed, so you keep regenerating. You’ll beg for death by the time I’m done with you—”

“Promise me you’ll protect me! If you’ll protect me from her, a-and from the Council, I’ll tell you anything you want to know!” he begged Godfrey, on his knees at the man’s feet, or as close as he could get at the end of his chains.

Godfrey grinned. “Of course, anything you like. We’ll set you up with your own private estate, far away from all of this messy business. The Council will never find you, not even with their bloodhounds.” He shot a glance over toward Avrae. Oh, that was rich.

Thanatos’s laugh was almost manic. “See, Tenebrus? You have no hold on me. You would have to rip the tongue from my mouth to silence me now.”

Oh, okay. “Maybe I will, shitstain!” She pulled hard against the chains, and Godfrey’s eyebrows raised, momentarily alarmed. Yeah, get scared. “Maybe I’ll rip your larynx right out of your throat, see how much you spill then! I should have known when they assigned you to me it’d be something like this. You’ve never been anything but a liability.” It probably wasn’t necessary to drag him this badly, but she really wanted to sell it. “I’ll send you right back to your lover with no eyes, no tongue, and no dick.” One sharp pull, and the silver chain disintegrated.

Thanatos’s shrieks and chokes as her hands wrapped around his neck sounded pretty real, even though she wasn’t actually trying to suffocate him. She hoped he had a plan for this, cause she’d be obligated to actually kill him pretty soon if she didn’t want to lose face. Godfrey’s men were trying to pull her off of him at least, though they weren’t being very successful. She checked behind her quickly, and to her astonishment, they’d abandoned the spotlight blocking the door from closing. If she could get out of the manacles, they were free. The split second her eyes were off of Thanatos’s face let her also be surprised when her wrists erupted in pain.

“What the fuck?” she yelled and immediately dropped him. He’d bitten her, he’d actually fucking bitten her! Hold on. A green substance that was definitely not the typical vampire venom was eating through the metal around her hands. It was melting her flesh too, but that could probably be fixed. She held her arms toward her body to hide what was going on and let Godfrey’s men pull her back.

“Oho, looks like our Harbinger has a few thorns of his own. Don’t worry, Angel, we’ll take good care of him. And you. Once we don’t need you, I’ll take great pleasure in making you answer for what you’ve done.”

“Yeah, uh-huh,” Avrae murmured as the shackles hit the floor. One blink, and one of Godfrey’s men had a hole through his heart. Another, and the second went down. They were in the dossiers anyway. She’d have had to do it eventually. “Tell me all about what I deserve. I’ll make sure to take note of it. Don’t think you’ll get the chance to do anything about it, though. Why don’t we see what this thing does?” 

She kicked a gobsmacked Godfrey into the path of the spotlight and threw one of her shadow blades at the switch. The spectacle was just as horrifying as she’d imagined. Every inch of the vampire’s skin melted, then charred, then turned to ash, revealing new flesh which then did the same, his whole body bursting into white flame and rendering down to a pile of fine grey dust in seconds. Thanatos whimpered behind her, probably imagining himself in that position.

She turned to him. “Well. That was something. The fuck did you do, anyway?” The only response he gave was a moan, and she realised his lips, fangs, and tongue were being liquefied by the same substance he’d put onto her wrists. He probably couldn’t talk at all. “Were you keeping that acid in your fangs the whole time?” He nodded wearily. “Shadow’s fangs. You’ve got more balls than I thought.” He huffed and looked away. Shit. He was going to need to regenerate, or more likely, some kind of medical care.

She snapped him out of the shackles and heaved him over her shoulder. “You really are no end of trouble.” Thanatos made a sound that might have been a cough and might have been a laugh.

taglist: @albatris, @milkshakes-lust-and-chiral-dust, @thethistlegirlwrites, @athenswrites

#whumptober 2023 #no. 4 #no. 18 #cattle prod #tortured for information #oc #fic #gore tw #vampire whump #vampire whumpee #original fiction #my writing #whumpblr #wip: ieiunusverse #ieiunusverse: the culling war #avrae tenebrus #thanatos iuventus #coy whumps

[mtgpocketrealm]

Shared Planar History

The history of each realm is majorly unconnected to the other realms, however, there are particular events that were so major that they affected every realm, I will go ahead and mention them here, though they will be mentioned more specifically and in detail with each realm, how they responded, how they dealt with it, and how it affected them after the fact.

A Seed Planted

The first shared event for the plane is one of the more obvious events, and that would be its creation and the subsequent planting of the world tree. This seed was cultivated to the point it began bearing fruit. This tree bore only a single fruit initially.

Splitting of the Fruit

Whoever created the plane was apparently dissatisfied with the fruit the world tree bore. They methodically split the fruit, violently (maybe even sadistically) split the Worldsoul, and implanted the barriers around the realms. At this point, biospheres, guardians, and the Skeps (sliver hives (taken from what they are called on the plane of Shandalar)) were placed onto the realms. Whoever created the plane seemingly stopped interacting with it substantially after this point.

Asking a Realmsoul about the history of their realm from here back will result in them screaming in inhuman pain for about a minute and then becoming confused about what they were just doing, that is, if they have any intention of answering the question in the first place.

The Great Mending

The native populations of the realms who had ignited found themselves trapped within the realm they were born and, due to the nature of being an Oldwalker, were elevated to the level of gods and were revered as such. But only a short few thousand years after life truly began on the realms, Planeswalkers ceased being near godlike beings, and thus, the gods of the realms disappeared. Religion (cults technically I believe), generally, is still alive within the realms, but they now worship those that no longer exist, gods who do not answer, and beings who hear no prayers.

Eldrazi Incursions

Several times before the present, Eldrazi 'shadows' have brushed up against the plane. Leaving Scions, Spawns, Horrors, Drones, and lesser Eldrazi among the realms, unable to escape to the eternities to join their Titans as they so desperately seem to want to. The first of these 'incursions' occurred relatively early in the plane's history, though each incursion has added at least one additional realm to be under siege from these extraplanar menaces.

Credit: Mathias Kollros

Phyrexian Invasion

The most recent shared event was that of the Phyrexian invasion. The invasion tree broke into the various realms, and it was the Guardians who took the brunt of the combat, generally infecting them. Though, luckily for those who live in the realms, the infection took long enough that the invasion was over before the Guardians were reprogrammed to slaughter and infect, turning the once wholly mechanical stewards into somewhat fleshy stewards.

The realms have had further specific effects after the invasion, cults popping up who believe the voices in their heads will lead them to betterment or perfection is one such example, but they are few.

Credit: Campbell White

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#mtg #magic the gathering #magic the card game #color theory #planes #creative writing #worldbuilding #slivers #eldrazi #phyrexian #please forgive me I am stupid #i don't know what I'm doing #i edited this #i edit after post frequently #oc #i'm bad at writing #i'm bad at tagging #mtg au

[cosmicseapop]

i decoded the journal from /fortressdelve Dage took since i needed it for another thing, so enjoy

The shadows are too arrogant to spend their time on the scritch-scratches of a broken vessel.

I write to you as a fellow mortal. Expose the Shadows and the Doom that infests our gentle Darkness. 

They wish to make slaves of us all. 

---

The Mysterious Strangers of the Shadowscythe. 

Of all of the Strangers, their power and memory is the strongest. 

They remember their Master, wish to emulate this Master, and have gone through great pains to trap Valen Pulchure in their grasp. 

Brick by brick, they built the Shadowscythe Empire.

It ordered the other active Strangers to serve it, for only they can see the Master’s plan vividly. 

This is their fifth attempt.

One last chance. 

It has no face. No identity. It is the Master’s will and only the Master’s will.

---

Daji, in flames. 

The antithesis to the Shadowscythe’s Mysterious Stranger. 

Brings civilizations to ruin and prevents the mortals from evolving too fast. 

Countless lives, the promise of a better future, the ingenuity and inventions of humankind, all lost to its Shadows.

It enjoys our torment, our torture, forcing us to be pieces in its political games, watching in delight from the Shadows.

But, in return, it was set aflame and still remains aflame, tormented and tortured like its victims.

It traveled to the Fortress to seal away the deceased Champion of Light’s weapons in exchange for a favor. 

“Leave me be. Let me return across the sea.”

---

The Worm that Walks.

Weakest of the active Strangers, yet able to bore into a mortal’s body and mind with ease. 

It infests Lore just as the Shadows infest the Darkness.

Your neighbor could be infested and you would never know.

The Worm’s pride drives it to be doubtful of the Shadowscythe’s Stranger.

“We will not be your marionettes. Not when your favorite puppet has been ripping off its strings.”

“Lies. You are envious of my influence.” So said the Stranger of the Shadowscythe.

“No. I am envious of the scion of Light’s influence.” So said the Worm. “Already, it steals your control. Nothing you say to your puppet will stop the Light now.”

---

The Colossus.

A Stranger that is as vast as the night sky. 

It engulfed entire continents in Shadow during the ancient Planar Conflicts. Millions of lives and untold amounts of history, sunk to the sea. 

It was within this sea that ‘something’ tore the Colossus in half. This Stranger’s insides became its outsides and nothing can stop the bleeding. 

“If the weak no longer have the will to serve the Master, then that leaves only you and I,” so said the Shadowscythe’s Stranger to The Colossus.

“Give up,” The Colossus responded. “I despise those who can not see that have already lost. Abandon your failing schemes, and turn your attention beyond the Light.”

The only way to regain its former glory was to take back the half that it lost to the abyss of the sea.

It had no interest in the coming downfall of its peers.

---

Enraged, the Stranger of the Shadowscythe attacked The Colossus. 

The ensuing skirmish shook the foundation of the Flying Fortress. Fire spread from Daji, scorching the others with the flames the mortals used to execute it. 

The fragments of The Worm were dug from my body, forcing it to flee.

Spited and without direction, the Shadows scattered, leaving the Shadowscythe’s Stranger burned and with tangled puppet strings. 

Though weak, these Shadows will grow again. To whoever finds these words, do not allow the Shadows to escape. 

Find them. Destroy every last one of them. 

My name?… I no longer remember if I had one. The Shadows had me for too long. 

But finally, I am free. The Darkness is quiet and gentle. 

Finally, I can fall asleep.

#i hope we never get another cipher #idk if someone else decoded it already somewhere else #but now its on tumblr #aqw #aqworlds #aqw spoilers #aor spoilers

[wowieweirdwarlock]

Plentiful Planes & Places: The Shadow Plane.

Also known as: The Netherworld; The Plane of Death.

Source: Planar Adventures & pathfinder setting guides.

Image source: Planar Adventures, pg. 109.

“The Shadow Plane is a dimly lit, murky mirror of the Material Plane, warped by proximity to the Negative Energy Plane and inhabited by sinister beings and undead.”

The Shadow Plane is a disorienting realm, as it is spread over the Material Plane and mimics it in many ways, but the expanses of the Plane are warped and distorted. Everything is made of solidified shadows, causing subtle changes to the landscape as the very matter making up the plane wavers and shudders.

This plane serves as a sort of protective atmosphere between the Prime Material and the Negative Energy Plane, absorbing most of the negative energy and dark beings and keeping them there. As a result, this plane is full of undead beings and shadowy creatures, but is slightly more hospitable than the Negative Energy Plane.

The entire plane is cloaked in shadow and darkness, which mutes all color. In addition to casting an eerie gloom over the plane, the atmosphere saps positivity, ambition, and color from the very essence of beings that find themselves there.

Denizens of the Shadow Plane:

In spite of the perpetual gloom of the realm, life continues to thrive in the lightless environment. Plants and animals have adapted to life in the plane, although as twisted, pale versions of their natural counterparts.

Some sentient species thrive here as well, such as:

D’ziriaks are an unusual blend between human and termite, with a strange society fitting their unusual appearances. They have colorful and unique exoskeletons, with bioluminescent spots and markings serving to aid in communication. They have a complex hierarchy housed within their underground cities.

Fetchlings are the scions of humans trapped on the shadow plane ages ago, and are the denizens of this lightless realm that beings from the material plane are most familiar with. They are distinctive and pale beyond belief, but many Fetchlings are enthusiastic about using extraplanar pigments and dyes to decorate themselves.

Owbs appear as floating humanoid torsos draped in night-dark cloth, and are incredibly mysterious. They serve as spiritual guides to some races of the Shadow Plane, and many believe they are the remnants of a long-lost pantheon of deities.

Velstracts, also known as Kytons, are pain-loving fiends who were exiled from Hell. They view torture as an art form, hear music in screams, and gain immense pleasure from pain. They believe that in order to reach perfection, one must be painfully transformed and twisted. Most other beings of the Shadow Plane fear these exiles, and rightly so.

Wayangs are one of the few races actually native to the Shadow Plane, despite many of them having migrated to the Material Plane. These strange pixie-like humanoids follow an eerie faith called The Dissolution, believing that all things will merge into shadow eventually.

Divinity on the Shadow Plane:

Not many deities would willingly be found on the Shadow Plane, where light cannot reach and faith serves little use.

Eons ago, the shadow plane was used to hold a prison meant for a god who had become corrupted. He has since been freed and claimed his own realm in the shadow plane, choosing to associate with the Kyton’s pantheon rather than return to his own.

Kyton Demagogues are the closest thing the Velstracs have to any true deities, other than the being of darkness and torment they released and formed a pact with. Each of the Demagogues maintain their own sanctuaries on the Shadow Plane, where they indulge in experiments both ingenious and profane. The Demagogues seek to achieve perfection in their own ways, and push the boundaries of their species’ “art” as much as they can, warping the bodies and minds of themselves and their followers.

Locations on the Shadow Plane:

A unique trait of the Shadow Plane, which many adventurers can take advantage of, is the fact that it reflects some of the most well-inhabited places on the material plane, while some lesser locations fade into shadow. This makes the Shadow Plane into a dangerous yet convenient means to vastly shorten the distance between two different places.

The Abbey of Nevers is one of the most well-known and confusing Kyton sanctuaries. When the Vestracs were betrayed and exiled from hell, the Demagogue Aroggus created this half-real kaleidoscope of realities. Less a location than a constantly-changing selection of demiplanes, the Abbey of Nevers can only be properly navigated by individuals versed in the alien logic of the Velstracs.

The Forsaken Bastion rises above the Shadow Plane’s dark horizon, a glassy fortress of spires and strange architecture. It is a fitting home for the strange Owbs, with no doors or windows on its flat planes of black glass. Light is strangled here, even when compared to the rest of the Shadow Plane, and only Owbs can enter, making the depths of this strange citadel unknown to anyone except the Owbs themselves.

Mitheeriak is the closest thing the Shadow Plane has to a nation in any sense. It is framed by jagged onyx mountains and a pitch-black obsidian river, and is home to families of Shadow Giants. These clans play at games of war in their enclosed kingdom, and host incredible feasts and events in times of peace.

Exploring the Shadow Plane:

While marginally safer than the Negative Energy Plane, the Shadow Plane does come with its own unique dangers and hazards:

Magic on the Shadow Plane is gloomy and sapped of light, as spells producing light or positive effects are heavily impeded. Spells that manipulate shadows or allow for sight in the darkness are unaffected.

The landscape of the plane is constantly twisting and warping, as the shadow stuff that makes up the realm is manipulated and changed. It is very difficult to try and navigate, and near-impossible to accurately map the plane.

Vision is impeded here, as even the brightest light in the plane is very dim. Only magical light sources can pierce the gloom, allowing for easier navigation.

A very unique hazard in the shadow plane, Voidboils are perverse pockets of negative energy that scar the landscape. In places where the borders between the Shadow and Negative Energy Planes grow thin, Voidboils grow like dark tumors. If disturbed or tread upon, they rupture, spewing negative energy and sapping the life from nearby beings.

A warning to any adventurers or explorers looking to visit this plane- stockpile whatever items or spells you can use to create light. This realm is darkness incarnate, the very land itself made of pure shadow.

Very few beings from the Material Plane can survive here without being drained by the Plane’s strange atmosphere. Most mortals that find themselves in this realm will die before they find anything of value, or get lost in the dark before they can escape.

If there is one positive trait of this plane, it is this: Distances between locations on the Prime Material and distances on the Shadow Plane are quite different. You could emerge into the shadow plane to cut a week-long journey down to a mere day, if you’re willing to hazard the undead and fiends along the way.

One thing I’ve found out about this plane is that native outsiders of this realm have an equally difficult time living in our world as we do theirs. I discovered this in an unfortunate manner, as a shadow I brought back with intent to have a new companion quickly wavered out of existence after entering the bright light of our world’s sun.

All in all, there is much to explore and do in this plane, but always keep a light at hand.

- A weird warlock.

#pathfinder #pathfinder plane #plane of shadow #pathfinder lore #wowieweirdwarlock #TTRPG #WWW: Plentiful Planes & Places

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

the last princess (4)

“You were wanting information on Lady DeGlass, weren’t you?”  The miqo’te twitched her tail.  Sebastian didn’t immediately respond, first sizing her up--and the bookstall that she was manning.  Before he’d left for Raz-at-Han with Augustine, he’d reached out to an old acquaintance in the city.  No matter how he tried to leave it alone, something--something about the DeGlass situation was bugging him. He’d planned to check back in a week...

Then Riven had finally more or less given into the traveler’s itch that had been plaguing all of them and had declared her intent to search for a lost treasure of the Bounty with Estinien.  Which had turned out to be Vrtra’s hoard, which then had led to them finding the planar fissure, which had lead to Vrtra revealing the truth about Azdaja, his sister...  By the time Sebastian had found out that he’d gotten a lead, nearly two moons had passed. 

“Well?”  The miqo’te’s voice jolted Sebastian out of his thoughts.  “I’m not giving this away for free, you know!”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”  Sebastian answered.  Taking out his coinpurse, he nodded at a group of rather expensive tomes.  The bookseller pondered this, then pointed to another pair of books.  Inwardly the gunbreaker winced at the total cost-it wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford it, but the sticker shock.  Nodding, he counted out the total--with a tip added in for good measure.  The bookseller accepted the gil, carefully counting it out before starting to wrap up his purchases.

“My sister works as one of the night-maids in the Rostra.”  She began.  “The day the Warrior of Light and the Scions came back, there was an emergency session that night.  Word was the Warrior wasn’t doing well in the infirmary, along with her fellows, plus the Forum wanted to know what happened up there.”

Makes sense.  Sebastian thought. 

“She was trying to hear what she could, but the Fourm guards weren’t putting up with any tomfoolery. And then all of a sudden, it went pitch silent, before yelling started.  And not just anyone, it was the Lady DeGlass!  She was swiving reading them the riot act, and nobody even dared to speak up!”

“Did your sister hear what it was about?”  Sebastian asked.

“No.  But whatever it was, the Fourm agreed to it fast, quick, and in a hurry.  The grapevine’s been buzzing ever since then, because the only time Lady DeGlass speaks is generally to counter-argue the Biblothecs.  Otherwise she stays silent.”  The bookseller’s tail twitched.

“Whatever she said or did, it upset some of the Forum.  My sister said Lord Leveilleur looked like he’d gotten hit with a Thunder spell.  And Lord Albright looked absolutely murderous--guess whatever the Lady DeGlass said really got under his skin.  They’re political opponents.”  Sebastian didn’t respond, lifting a hand to his chin in thought.

The fact we all came back alive would be enough to give him a bad day.  He couldn’t effectively do anything against us after the Final Days struck in Garlamald, because we helped save the refugees--and then got the Ragnarok working.  And he still can’t, because of Leveva’s blackmail.  Technically.  So all he can do really is be a petty passive-aggressive bastard...which means that this was DeGlass working on her own.  And it’s a major departure from her normal status quo...

“Has your sister heard anything else?”  The bookseller frowned at the question, tilting her head as her tail lashed the air.

“There was something with the Lady DeGlass two moons ago--about her dead grandkid?  Something like that or the other.  She’s not been in town for a while- however, her name’s on the public list of Fourm members who need to be called back in case something happens.”  The miq’ote shrugged. 

“Fraid that’s all I’ve got.”

“You’ve been very helpful.”  Sebastian said, reaching to pick up the parcels.  Turning away, he headed back towards the main plaza, mind churning.  If DeGlass had been trying to protect them from Sevestre--it would have made things infinitely easier.  But clearly that wasn’t the case.

Maybe I’m overthinking this.  Perhaps DeGlass had wanted to help out of the goodness of her heart.  It wouldn’t have been the first time their small band had received unexpected assistance.  But then...

The Forum is acting benevolent now, but we know for a fact that they don’t always do so.  Sevestre again--when Riven had been learning astrologian magics, and then more recently--Mathye and Lalah Jinjahl.  Krile had certainly been discomforted by the open admission of the Fourm leaving ‘troublesome’ elements out of the exodus evacuation plans.  And during his time as an educator at the Studium, Sebastian had more than heard his own fair share of dark rumors.

It’s better to be paranoid than not at all.  Thancred had told him once as he’d been training him back on the First.  You have to consider every possibility, and then what might come after that.  A lot of the times, your first feeling?  It’ll turn out to be the correct one.  Sebastian blew out a breath.

“I think it’s time I spoke with Riven and the others.”  He muttered to himself. 

--------------

the last princess (1) 

the last princess (2)

the last princess (3)

#ffxiv #ffxiv gpose #ffxiv gposer #sebastian astralyas #life after the Final Days #in which Seb is suspicious #backstory #old sharlayan #fuckery is afoot

[dainty-baneberry]

8. Tepid

He certainly could not fault the accommodations or the meal, provided by the Satrap himself at Dainty’s request.

Thavnairian cuisine was rich, varied and heavily spiced and an excellent representation of its many dishes had been laid out for the meal along with wine and more potent spirits if desired.

The perfect meal for an extended retelling of one's battles, as had been requested.

Dainty had sought to make use of the fact that the Ironworks were already in Thavnair and she herself had little to do until Zero awoke to make good on a promise given ere she departed to the edge of oblivion.

Varshahn had not questioned Dainty's request for a private and most importantly secret meal for two. He had vowed that anything the Scions could ask of him, if it was in his power to give, it would be so.

Cid Garlond had been lightly expecting this, if he was honest, for the way Dainty had barely even glanced in his direction before entering the planar fissure below the Bounty.

She was always unusually cold to him right before they managed to meet and as she, Estinien, Vashahn and Y’Shtola were about to travel unto the Void itself no one questioned it, assuming Dainty to simply be hyper focused upon the battle to come.

When one of the Radiant Host had requested that the Principal Engineer of the Ironworks accompany him to investigate one of Radz-at-han’s inner mechanical workings none had questioned that either.

Nero had huffed and questioned where his invite was but was soundly ignored while Biggs and Wedge had taken advantage of the free time to explore the city and find souvenirs.

Cid quickly found himself escorted to a small area behind the barracks and instructed to wait there. It was not long before Dainty appeared to led him to a private dining room once used by the puppet Sartrap’s who concealed Vrtra as Radz-at-han’s true ruler.

“The worst part of Ultima Thule, other than the depressing illusions of extinct beings that Meteion and her sisters had ushered unto extinction… was the air.” Dainty said, picking up her wine glass and gesturing with it a little as she spoke. “Although Thancred’s sacrifice “survive” meant we could breathe there were naught wind, nor air movement. It were thick and cloying with dynamis too. Like bathwater gone tepid all about ones skin.”

Cid grimaced, reaching for his own glass of wine and a piece of squid.

For someone who usually spoke so little Dainty was a good story-teller when she got a little booze in her and Cid was utterly enjoying her recounting of her confrontation of the Endsinger in Ultima Thule.

Dainty’s turn of phrase also became distinctly less formal the more of Vrtra’s very good white wine that she imbibed.

He helped himself to a stuffed olive or three.

“... the Ea were awful, amorphous dark bodies covered in white sheets. Like over chewed bubblegum…”

By the time they had polished off the bottle between them the fact that Dainty had been adopted into a clan of Hellsguard Roegadyn following the Calamity was blatantly apparent.

“...and then Y’Shtola and Urianger stepped forward to confront this Despair. Both value knowledge so richly it was only fitting…although I still don’t know why Urianger went too. He did explain it…I just didn’t understand it….”

Cid partook of some cubed sheep’s milk cheese curd that had been drizzled with spiced honey.

That Dainty had cut her teeth as an Adventurer in Limsa Lominsa, surrounded by cutthroats and pirates was vastly clear as she uncorked a new bottle expertly;

“Base Omicron is where G’raha Tia fell. The little shit…. making me go through a song and bloody dance about aaaalll the adventures we would go on together, knowing full well this sacrifice might be permanent. Well done, friend, we’re only trying to prevent ourselves from falling to despair. Rip at my bloody heart strings. Capital fuckin’ thinking…”

#ffxiv writing challenge #ffxiv roleplay #ffxiv #cid garlond #dainty baneberry #ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2022 #writeseptember

[enddaysengine]

Paths Beyond - Remonstered and Remastered

I've meant to give an update on the state of Paths Beyond for a while, so the release of Monster Core seems like a good moment to do so. I've had many different balls in the air, including freelance work for Scion, community content for Changeling: the Lost and Pathfinder Infinite, and the almost-three-year-old goblin running around my house. Oh and the day job. Anyhow, the point is that updates have been slow, even though I'm picking away on some new writeups when I have time. My hope is to build up a couple months of buffer so I can make regular posts again. With a little luck, it won't take too much longer.

I think there's a solid argument that the entire Remaster was worth it for the new hags.

Then there's the Oliphant in the room— the Remaster. I've been waiting for Monster Core to release to see what monsters get changed in the update, but I'd be lying if I said that waiting hadn't killed some of my motivation to write. I'm getting that back now, but it has been a challenge to overcome. One way I'm going to refocus is by getting the writeups for Monster Core done first, then loop back around to other monsters. This won't be a hard and fast rule since I am a firm believer in writing what motivates you to write, but it will be a firmer guideline than the pirate's code.

Conspiracy Dragons are so damn weird and I absolutely love them.

There's also one change I'd like to point out: the scope of Paths Beyond has shifted a bit. This is a consequence of the Gatewalkers Adventure Path. It hit the tone I want for Paths Beyond, yet it doesn't feature any planar content beyond (heh) its first installment. That challenged me to rethink what I wanted Paths Beyond to be and the insight it gave me is to the project's benefit. Paths Beyond is definitely still about the planes, but it is also about the weird, the strange, and the bizarre. If it is an attempt to recreate the tone of Planescape within Pathfinder, it is far more about capturing the tone of high weirdness and the impossible made possible than it is trying to recreate the feeling of Sigil itself. Sometimes that will mean stories that jump from Heaven to Hell and back again — but it doesn't have to.

#paths beyond #Pathfinder #PF2e #Planescape #fantasy #rpg #d20 #worldbuilding #weird fantasy

[silversiren1101]

That first day Mino fully becomes an armiger and is awkwardly inserted into her 'class' (training unit?) with no ceremony or announcement really and the others have to get her attention during drills or about the halls by shouting "ganzi!" She has a lot of feelings about it- perceived and correctly identified at large by almost everyone around her, not mistaken as a tiefling or even as aasimar. It's a first.

Ganzi aren't exactly common in Cheliax but Hellknights studies on outsiders coincidentally means they'd have robust knowledge on planar scions as well. The scales and feathered tail clearly mark her of protean heritage, which even most armigers who've done even the smallest amount of study would recognize.

#oc: minovae arangeir

[dailycharacteroption]

First World Caller (Wizard Archetype)

(art by Matteo Brizio on Artstation)

 When you look for the power and blessings of the fey, you probably look for druids, maybe rangers, or else an enchantment-focused caster like a bard or even mesmerist. One usually does not look to the disciplined and measured power of a wizard for flights of fey fancy.

And yet, with today’s archetype, we are presented with exactly that. Whether it be because of artificially strengthened pacts or bonds with the fey or the First World itself, or a natural affinity for the fey realms, today we are looking at a form of wizard that boasts the ability to call in a bit of the First World wherever they are.

And why not? With it’s primal and wild magic, as well as it’s connections to the earliest days of the multiverse, the fey realm of the First World seems the perfect place to study magic at it’s most wild and untamed, free from the structures and systems imposed by gods and mortals alike.

This archetype is heaviliy associated with gnome civilizations that still dwell in the First World, but any ancestry, gnome or not, can potentially learn or be imbued with this path.

 These wizards bond with a familiar, which seems to have been created or linked to them by how their soul has interacted with the First World in their past, perhaps before they were even born. Either way, these familiars are part fey, and though their physical defenses are not as impressive and they do not grant their master the typical blessing based on their species, they do gain a measure of fey resistance to damage that is not from cold iron, as well as a bit of resistance to magic and the ability to shapeshift into a humanoid form. Later on, they even grow insectile wings if they don’t already have them, gaining flight.

With their connection to the First World, these mages excel at summoning creatures, and learn how to summon many different types of fey ally in addition to the typical summons.

In addition to this, more powerful callers can infuse some of the ever-changing nature of the First World into local reality, altering it’s physical and even magical properties. Gravity, magic, and even alignment-based planar properties are theirs to impose upon such a region for a short time.

Interested in a character with a unique familiar, summons, and even the ability to create massive areas that can help or hinder with planar traits? This archetype may be for you. You lose out on the arcane school, which will limit your spell slots somewhat, but the options opened up by your new summons and the like should make up for it. Naturally, summoning spells are an important part of the build, and feats that bolster them or help you acclimate to the conditions you impose upon reality are good choices.

 This archetype has a nice little touch of “magical destiny” to it that is perfect for “secret heirs to magical kingdoms” sort of personal storylines, as well as the eager young mage that leaps into exploring their unique ability.

  All his life, Micross has been able to see hints of the fey realms, and had a gift for befriending the denizens that seemed attracted to his presence, but he never had any idea what it meant. So, he studied, hoping to understand more by developing his own magic through this connection. Finally, a breakthrough was discovered when he heard rumors of a way to follow the thread of fate back in time, allowing him the opportunity to see where this connection comes from and what destiny he was shouldered with… but will he find peace of mind, or disappointment?

 On the world of Vushan, elves have a much more defined fey connection, and the royal families of which often exhibit an inherent ability to command the fealty of the fey and the very fey realms themselves. Nobody expected such an ability to manifest in a half-blooded scion born from a tryst with a human woman, however. But, that ability does make him a contender for the throne, causing much stirring in the elven courts.

 After barely surviving a peryton attack, Akkez fled through a fey grotto and ended up in the realm of the fey, where he bartered his magical skill in exchange for passage and protection. It’s been years now and he has learned many new magical abilities. However, he still remains there, partially out of fear that the peryton still hunts him, but also because his debt to the fey continues to grow.

#pathfinder #archetype #wizard #First World caller #elf #half-elf #gnome #peryton #Heroes from the Fringe

[sleepymarmot]

My favorites:

Assistant: Tzozabrar, Dwarven Deconstructor

Assistant: Xyn, Planar Purveyor (Merchant)

Customized Action: Dwarven Sphere Chop

Emote: Play Glass Armonica

Emote: Varkenel's Hat Trick

Furniture: Statue - Sai Sahan

Furniture: Twinkling Lights, Blue

Head Markings: Midnight Rising Makeup

Outfit Style: Arms Pack - Jester's Feast

#eso #blah blah blah

[rperboni]

PATHFINDERS - The Duskwalker Oracle

Like nephilim, duskwalkers are considered planar scions, but with a slightly different origin, closely linked to the Psychopomps, the guardians of the River of Souls, sworn to protect those who cross it so that they reach their destination, classified in a special class of outsiders from the Outer Sphere, linked to the concepts of neutrality without judgments of good and evil, called Monitors. These humanoids come from reincarnated souls, having a complete understanding of the cycles of life and death.

With that in mind, I chose to turn my friend into a Duskwalker Oracle, precisely linked to the Bones mystery. Oracles, in the Pathfinder scenario, are almost like a divine equivalent to sorcerers, using innate magic derived from the truth shown to them by the gods, but at the price of carrying a curse along with their abilities. It took me a while to get the idea - maybe because the class was in the playtest when I drew this char - that oracles don't necessarily need to be linked to a specific deity related to their mystery, different from the clerics and their domains. But it turned out that everyone I did as a oracle has a patron deity, this one being a follower of Pharasma, the Lady of Graves and Queen of the Boneyard, exactly where the psychopomps come from.

#pathfinder #Paizo Publishing #paizo #Pathfinder RPG #pathfinder character #rpg #rpg character #duskwalker #psychopomp #boneyard #kukri #Pharasma #oracle #cleric #priest #planar scion #Character Design #character art #original character #fantasy character #fantasy art #Dungeons and Dragons #digital drawing #digital art #Digital Artists #artists on tumblr